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Jubilation fills the spring-evening air in the normally staid town of Trunau, for it is the twelfth birthday of the Chief Defender’s youngest daughter, Ruby, and the townsfolk have been preparing all day for the ceremony and festivities to follow. A throng of spectators has amassed at the town Commons; the buzz of the crowd subsides as the weathered town leader, Halgra of the Blackened Blades, takes the stage and begins to speak.
“Thank you all for joining us this night. I take immense pride in my responsibility as Chief Defender, especially when it comes to the honor of the hopeknife ceremony. It is always a great privilege to bequeath Trunauan youths their hopeknives as they come of age.” Halgra stops speaking long enough to open an ornamental case and retrieve a slender, ornately decorated dagger hanging from a silver chain. “But tonight is a special occasion, for the recipient of this hopeknife is none other than my youngest daughter.” Once again, Halgra pauses, but this time she turns to talk to the child beside her.
“Ruby, by the traditions of our town, you have come of age. This hopeknife represents your responsibilities as an adult and defender of Trunau. You must be willing to use it on yourself, your fellow Trunauans, and your family—even me, should it come to that. It will be a far quicker death than that which the orcs will offer, and providing it is your duty. Do you swear to guard Trunau from all comers, and to use your hopeknife only for its intended purpose?” Ruby—dusky skinned, black haired, and painfully shy—nods her head in response to her mother’s question.
“If the orcs come, and there is no other option, this is where you cut—here, here, and here.” Halgra demonstrates which arteries to sever while Ruby watches. When she is finished, Halgra sheathes the hopeknife and places the necklace around Ruby’s neck before turning back to address the crowd.
“Tonight, Ruby becomes a full member of our community! Let us welcome her, and celebrate her passage into adulthood! Trunau forever!” The crowd echoes Halgra’s last words in unison, signaling the end of the ceremony.
Once Halgra has finished her speech, the townsfolk waste no time transitioning to the ceremony’s more lighthearted festivities. Games and food are the highlights and through the night Ruby is to be center stage. Rodrik and Kurst Grath take on the crowd but they manage to make everything about Ruby and the crowd cheers all the louder.
”Tradition holds that the first event of the night is the tug-of war.” Rodrik shouts to the crowd. ”It will be the honor of the lowly members of the militia to take on Ruby and her chosen allies in a show of strength.” As the twin brothers motion towards each other, the crowd takes the cue and they boo loudly.
Kurst smiles at his brother and feigns being offended. ”Dear Rodrik, I think the crowd no longer favors you. Perhaps they can help her choose who will serve with her.” Rodrik takes Ruby’s hand and leads her to the people so she can pick her fellow competitors. The young girl excitedly looks over the shouting crowd, laughing and trying to decide on who to ask for help.
After a few moments she catches sight of a few people she has often seen around. She points towards a sharp-eyed goblin first. ”Purg! I want Purg.” Shouts and Rodrik motions for the goblin to come to the front. Ruby then spots a fiery gnome. ”And Wild! He’s stronger than anyone.”. Rodrik motions again but is now having trouble keeping up with Ruby who has run up to Agrit Staginsdar and her wife Sara.
”Miss Agrit,” Ruby politely asks the dwarven wizard. ”Dwarfs are strong right? Would you want to help?” The Councilor smiles and goes to step forward, but then thinks better of it. ”Little Ruby, it would be unfair for a councilor to take sides. You are right to ask for dwarves. I know of two new comers to town who may be willing to help.” Agrit points to a dwarven priestess in the crowd as well as female caravan guard. Rodrik approaches the two dwarven women and asks them to come to the front.
”Anyone else, Ruby?” Rodrik asks to the further cheers from the crowd. While Ruby and Rodrik handle her choices, Kurst quietly goes around to some of the older children to enlist their help. After a few join up with him Kurst approaches his friend Verthorm. ”What do you say Verthorm? Want to help make this a fun event? You remember what it was like for you.” He turns back to the rope being laid out but then adds. ”Plus, we don’t want Rodrik to have all the fun do we?”
Ruby is still thinking things over as the two groups of competitors gather together and Rodrik looks up. He makes an exaggerated counting motion at the number of people and looks back at Ruby. ”It looks like you might need one more, who…” Before he can finish asking she shouts out. ”Robin! Robin can you help out?”
Ruby comes bounding over to her chosen team mates. She smiles at the three people she knows already and then turns to the two dwarven women. ”I’m Ruby. These are Purg, Wild, and Robin. Are we ready to bear these stuffy militia men?”
Purg watches the goings-on with a lot of curiosity. Firstly, talking to a child, because no matter what the big ones thought that was still a child, about having to stab and slice their own family was very bad. It was true that being caught by the orcs would be worse, but it still did not feel good to be talking about slicing family.
That Ruby would want him in a tug of war was extremely odd. He was small, weak, and in fact just about the worst person possible to select for that sort of event. She seemed to be picking mostly very small people, which did not make a lot of sense. You want very big people for that, big strong people like not-Purg. He was not one to deny someone's wishes on their big day, though, so he accepted. "Purg not sure about this. Purg think maybe you just want see him fall down." There's no malice to the words, Purg simply is very unsure of why out of all the townsfolk you'd choose a goblin.
It is good to prepare for death. At last! A test of strength to weed the weak from the strong. There must be one stronger than me in this town willing to follow... or lead?
Wild puffs out his chest at Ruby's mention of his strength. Clearly excited, he marches beside Purg and bellows in common with guttural orcish tones.
"We're all going to fall down! But not tonight! Tonight we live! "
He continues to hoot and flex his muscled frame in an effort to gain the favor of the crowd.
"Trunau forever," Vethorm says in response to the Chief Defender's rallying cry. It's not as enthusiastic as it could have been, but at least its sincere. He looks down at his own hopeknife a bit, remembering when it was his twelfth birthday. There was nowhere near the same energy for him. But it was stupid to be resentful about it, of COURSE people would be more excited for Ruby than for him. People generally liked her. They barely thought about him at all if he wasn't in trouble, and he preferred it that way.
Kurst's invitation snaps him out of his contemplation.
"Wait, me?" he asks, a note of incredulity slinking into his voice. "Heh, never been a first pick for something before. Sure!"
He follows Kurst over to the rope and gets ready to take it up. His skinny arms weren't gonna be much help, but at least he'd be able to put on a good show for the birthday girl.
Wild's declaration prompts a raised eyebrow from Vethorm.
"Weirdo," he thinks to himself.
Purg is aghast. He is mortified. This small one does not have the sense that Gorum gave to little brown lizards. Wait, did Gorum give those lizards sense? Or was it one of the other dei... dei... dei... gods? Purg shook his considerable head. And the rest of this group also didn't look like they could lift a bucket of water out of a well either. Oh well, at least it would be a fast tug of war.
Purg took up a spot in front so he could see his imminent doom. He didn't weigh enough to be at the back and wouldn't want to try seeing what was happening through the tall-folk. He wasn't too sure about putting his back to the crazy person though, that wasn't a good idea. But it was safe in town, right? The wall was there. Most of the militia were still keeping watch. They wouldn't have a party like this and not have it be safe. All the scare-talk was just that, talk.
He didn't feel much like saying anything, it was him and a bunch of weird people and Ruby. She was nice kid. Only 12 though, not grown up like Purg who was big and grown up at 13. So much can change in a year. Dreams of times gone by tried to rear their ugly heads but Purg shook his head again and almost fell over trying to keep those thoughts away. He felt a little dizzy and smiled at the townsfolk.
Hilde, a blonde dwarf woman in a green robe with gold trim, has been watching the ceremony with keen interest. So that's what it takes to survive here, poking Belkzen's orcs in the eye with every day free. Trudd, brother of Bolka, smile on these people and give them strength. When Agrit volunteers her, Hilde nods with an easy smile. "Of course!" She strides forward and joins the others, clasping hands with anyone she hasn't yet met. "Hilde am I."
"Oh, Ruby. Dreadfully brave. Dreadfully brave to be accepting something so dark and solemn like that." Robin speaks out loud as the ceremony proceeds, voice vibrating with concern for the girl as she becomes an 'adult' in name and tradition here in Trunau. To Robin, it seems a little sad, but he's not yet used to the way Trunauans handle the danger of their everyday existence. Eyes a little wet contemplating it, he turns to Vethorm nearby and continues his earlier statement "Don't you think? Shouldn't they wait a year or two more?"
Robin strikes a delicate figure, with short blond curls, wide brown eyes, rosy cheeks in an otherwise pale face and a graceful way of holding himself. He's dressed with a leather vest over an embroidered green blouse and leather pants that seem impractically tight. Delicate earrings of copper and malachite hang from his ears.
When he's selected to join in the tug of war he looks behind him before looking back to Rodrik and pointing a finger at himself "Me?" He smiles warmly "I would love to. Though I do hope Ruby ate a good breakfast today, so she can tug extra hard for the two of us." He winks at Ruby and ascends from the crowd to join the other selected tug of war participants.
Ranhild had been through Trunau a few times with various caravans, running supplies to the rare, secluded holdout towns in Belkzen, working as a guard against the predations of the violent tribes, and giving herself a chance to test her skill in battle. Having heard about the Hopeknife festival, she considered herself lucky to be able to witness it tonight, the balance of solemn gravity and cheerful celebration appealing to her.
When Ruby comes to her, requesting her help in the tug of war, she grins, "Sure, I'd be happy to!" she says with a chuckle, joining her alongside the other dwarven woman.
Securing her shield on her back, the dwarven warrior rolls her shoulders before greeting her new team-mates, looking forward to participating in a bit of fun. "Well met everyone, I'm Ranhild. Happy to work with you all!" she says with a grin, brushing her red-gold braid to one side.
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Ruby herself is almost buzzing with excitement as the teams start to assemble. She greets the two dwarves with a big smile and then heads to the front of her assembled group. Before she gets there she looks smiles extra big at Purg and tries to reassure him.
"Purg, you aren’t strong?" She says with a laugh. "You are brave! And Wild is mighty. Robin is smart. And I hear dwarves are steady, so I know Hilde and Ranhild will make the effort and we will win."
While the selection is going on a rope is brought out with a flag tied in the middle. Rodrik drags his boot along the dirt, drawing a rough line. He then stands at the head of the group opposite Ruby and her team. Kurst gets the rest of his team assembled behind Rodrik, with Vethorm between himself and his brother. The rest of the older kids form up behind them. The muscular half-orc smith, Sara Morninghawk, steps up to officiate the event as the crowd cheers on.
Jargin Garth, the father of the twin men, and Hagra stand off to one side together, watching. Hagra whispers something to Jargin but when he doesn't seem to react she gives him a jab with an elbow. She goes back to smiling and cheering on her youngest daughter.
"Trunau! Shouts Sara to get the crowds attention. "The rules are simple. Pull as hard as you can and the first team that pulls the opponent leader across the line, wins." She looks at both Rodrik and then Ruby.
Rodrik feigns an aggressive growl at Ruby and she mimics him. "Let's pull the pretty boy into the mud!"[b] Ruby shouts back at her team and grips the rope.
[b]Initiative: Initiative will be rolled as a group, using the highest bonus. Whoever wins initiative in this case will get a +2 bonus to the group’s overall check. I will be making this check at the beginning of each round, using Purg’s initiative for Ruby’s team and Vethorm’s initiative for the Defender’s team.
Establish Group Bonus: Each competitor adds their Strength Bonus to the final check and each competitor may make an DC 8 Constitution Check or a DC 10 Athletics Check. A success on the check add an additional +1 bonus to the final check, and if you succeed by 5 or more you add an additional +1 (+2 total).
The Final Check: Each team will make one check, using the total bonus established above. Vethorm will roll for his team and a different PC will roll each round for Ruby’s team. The winning team will pull the rope one step closer to themselves and for every 5 points by which the winner exceeds the opponent’s check and addition step will be moved. Three steps separate each team from the center line.
The graphic below will show the current status of the event.
Ruby ⬛⬛⬛| Rodrik
As always, RP is encouraged and this hopefully will be a fun and quick icebreaker for the group.
Sara Morninghawk smiles to the crowd. ”Ready! Pull! The crowd cheers with most people lending support to Ruby. Some half-heartly cheer the defenders, but it is clear they don’t want them to win.
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Initiative: Initiative will be rolled as a group, using the highest bonus. Whoever wins initiative in this case will get a +2 bonus to the group’s overall check. I will be making this check at the beginning of each round, using Purg’s initiative for Ruby’s team and Vethorm’s initiative for the Defender’s team.
Establish Group Bonus: Each competitor adds their Strength Bonus to the final check and each competitor may make an DC 8 Constitution Check or a DC 10 Athletics Check. A success on the check add an additional +1 bonus to the final check, and if you succeed by 5 or more you add an additional +1 (+2 total).
The Final Check: Each team will make one check, using the total bonus established above. Vethorm will roll for his team and a different PC will roll each round for Ruby’s team. The winning team will pull the rope one step closer to themselves and for every 5 points by which the winner exceeds the opponent’s check and addition step will be moved. Three steps separate each team from the center line.
The graphic below will show the current status of the event.
Ruby ⬛⬛⬛| Rodrik
As always, RP is encouraged and this hopefully will be a fun and quick icebreaker for the group.
Being a fairly new denizen of the surface world, Wild eyes the dainty human man and the two fair-skinned dwarven women suspiciously, having never before seen compassion from their kind. He is sparsely dressed in a tattered kilt, revealing a multitude of orcish tribal tattoos and heavily scarred skin. Given the violent nature of his past and inexperience with surface cultures, he speaks loudly most of the time and often with more ferocity than necessary.
"The orcs called me Wild! Shows what they know! There was spiked pits and walls of fire when last we played this game. Tonight no one dies and we all gets stronger for it. Come. Come. Come. AH HA!"
He then grins widely and jumps to the back of the line, heaving the rope and leaning back hard to become the anchor.
Wild joins Ruby in her growling half-hearted taunts. "Into the mud with them pretty faces!"
"Oh, Ruby. Dreadfully brave. Dreadfully brave to be accepting something so dark and solemn like that." Robin speaks out loud as the ceremony proceeds, voice vibrating with concern for the girl as she becomes an 'adult' in name and tradition here in Trunau. To Robin, it seems a little sad, but he's not yet used to the way Trunauans handle the danger of their everyday existence. Eyes a little wet contemplating it, he turns to Vethorm nearby and continues his earlier statement "Don't you think? Shouldn't they wait a year or two more?"
Vethorm shrugs.
"May not be a Trunau next year, or the year after that. We need every sword-arm we can get each year, and it's worked out so far. Even my scrawny, limp-fish sword-arm. Speaking of which..."
He tromps over to take position behind Kurst at the rope. He gives a small "heh" at Wild's bluster. "As if I'M pretty..."
Despite his own self-deprecating, his grip is surprisingly firm, and he steadily tugs in tandem with the Grath brothers. Seems some of that year patrolling with them had stuck.
"Kurst, we're putting on a show, right?" he discretely hisses to his friend. "Like, we want Ruby to win, we just don't wanna make it easy?"
He significantly underestimated his own strength, and he was starting to worry if he overdid it.
"A little mud won't hurt, will it?" Robin laughs as he grasps the rope, taking up position with shorter people to his front and to his rear. Luckily for Ruby, they seem quite steady on their feet. He addresses them warmly "We'll have our work cut out for us. Vethorm and the militia folks probably tug ropes for a living. Ready all? Three, two..." He gives it his all, though that isn't all that much.
Laughing, Hilde rolls up her sleeves and grabs the rope. She doesn't do a stellar job of bracing herself, but she still contributes by strength alone. "Pull! For Ruby's honor!"
Purg pulls for all he is worth, which granted is not very much. He digs in his feet, and pulls on the rope until his hands start to burn. "Purg is pulling! Are others also pulling?" Every last pound he has leans back against the rope. Again, we're not talking a whole lot here. "You is not pushing, is you? That would be bad!"
Grabbing a hold of the rope, Ranhild joins the team effort, her foot slipping just as she tries to throw her weight into it.
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Once Sara calls out to begin, both teams dig in and pull hard on the rope. For a moment it looks like the defenders will keep the line steady but then Ruby and her teammates tug with mighty strength and the defenders lurch forward. Rodrik and Kurst seem surprised at the actual power that they are facing.
Kurst whispers to Vethrom in front of him as they are pulled off center for the moment. ”It’s ‘supposed’ to be a show.” He grunts as he doubles his effort and shouts to the team. ”Pull people, pull. We can’t let them beat us.”
Rodrik smiles even as he struggles to keep from falling over. ”Halgra,” he shouts. ”What do you her? She pulls like a mare.” The crowd cheers and Halgra smiles and then shouts back. ”Better to pull like a mare than smell like the back-side of one!” This causes some of Rodrik’s teammates, including Kurst, to laugh and they slide a little more as they lose concentration.
Ruby continues to pull and shouts to encourage her teammates. ”Their pretty and SOFT!”
Ruby ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ | 🔲 Rodrik
Purg continues pulling, though he's tiring out already. He wasn't much of one for this much physical labor, that's why he preferred the crossbow. His hands are hurting from the rope, because he didn't think to wear gloves or anything. Not that he had gloves.
What were they doing again? Oh right, pulling rope. Purg finds the rope has slackened a bit in his hands, but he resumes pulling the rope. "How long this take? Purg is hungry."
Robin blinks at Ruby's shout, not understanding that she's using it to rile the other side up "I think they could afford to be more pretty and soft, personally. In any case, let's get them while they're still off balance." He hauls as well as he can, adding "You too Purg, lets win this for Ruby and you can get back to feasting."
Hilde sets herself more firmly and gets her second wind. "Come on! Pull, and then we can feast!"
As Ruby calls encouragement, Ranhild digs in, throwing her weight back as she pulls as hard as she can. "We can do this!!"
Wild keeps a steady grip and pulls together with the team. Though his mind absently drifts to the frivolity of days long forgotten.
"YES! Soft like tasty mushrooms! We pull you out and go !"
Vethorm's concerns about overdoing it are quickly proven unfounded as the other team nearly wins the game in the first tug. He quickly puts his back into it.
Again, despite being nowhere near as strong as the Grath brothers, he makes a surprisingly good effort.
The same cannot be said for Rodrick and Kurst.
"HEY, ARE YOU TWO PULLING OR AM *I* DOING ALL THE WORK?!" he snarls indignantly, prompting a guffaw from where his own family are watching in the crowd.
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The teams of competitors continued to pull with the defenders managing to dig in a little more. Ruby and her teammates start to lose the momentum they had built, but not enough to keep the defenders from sliding across the center line. With one final pull, Rodrik stumbles forward and the crowd cheers loudly for Ruby and her teammates. Ruby lets out a loud bellow of excitement and smiles to the people who helped her achieve victory.
Rodrik dramatically falls to his knees and addresses the crowd. ”Ruby and her friends are too strong for us. We admit defeat and ask that you honor her victory.” He goes to stand but the Ruby runs over and tackles him back to the ground, where she is then joined by many of the other children of Trunau. Sara can’t help but laugh and even Jargin can be seen trying to hide a smile. Within moments the festival atmosphere returns and food is brought out.
Kurst lets the rope fall and slaps Vethorm on the shoulder with a laugh. ”Hey don’t look at me, I was pulling as best I could. It seems Ruby knows how to assemble a group that works well together. Maybe she should take over as Patrol Leader when father retires?” He leads the way over to the other team to congratulate them. He spreads his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. ”Clearly you are the mightier group!”
Kurst looks back at where Ruby, Rodrik, and the other kids are busy mock fighting then continues. ”Thanks you for your effort and for making Ruby feel important on her day. I know Halgra appreciates it as well.”
Wild snaps out of his nostalgia when the crowd cheers for Ruby and their team's swift victory, though he remains holding the end of the rope for a while. He raises his other fist in the air and roars.
"For the small and mighty! Woo!" Victory and death await! We are coming!
He then smiles widely at each of his new companions. When Kurst approaches, Wild steps up proudly to meet him.
"Now all know who is strongest. Bonded in the unbreakable seal of meat sweat and mud dirt, we are clanned now until the end of days."
Following a maniacal laugh that lasts a few seconds too long for comfort, Wild finally releases the end of the rope.
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Hilde clasps Ruby's shoulder in congratulations. "Well done! It was my pleasure to help. And now I've worked up a thirst!" The dwarf looks around for ale. "Ranhild! First round's on me!"
Purg is surprised to see that they have won, more because of his weakness than anything else, but win they did. He smiles at Ruby. "You good leader. Maybe not pick best team, but still win. Sometimes lucky better than good they say. Purg glad you friend." His words are real, he means each and every one. Then he goes off on a complete tangent talking to some of the other kids about how they need to be more careful because they do not bounce like goblins do and if they keep swinging weapons like that someone will get a dent in their head that won't come out.
He carefully ignores the extremely crazy Wild. People used to call him crazy, but clearly they hadn't seen anything like this guy. At least whoever had named him had done a good job. Not like these other names. Ruby was a nice girl but she was not red enough to justify it. What was a Ranhild anyway? "This also go to show that small ones better than big ones all day," he says to someone who wasn't talking about anything remotely relevant to that statement.
Robin claps along with the rest, cheering more for Ruby than for the team "Three cheers for Ruby! Beating the whole of the militia almost on her own. Except for just a little bit of help." He winks to the girl and then turns to the rest of the tug-team. "You all proved yourselves as well though. Strong indeed!"
Once Kurst has them all separated he nods to the man "You put on quite the lovely show there, beads of sweat on the brow and everything. I'm sure this will be a wonderful memory for Ruby." To Wild he adds "I don't know what you mean by clanned, but I can't think of a finer start for a friendship either. And the rest of you too."
Ranhild joins the celebration, congratulating Ruby warmly and greeting those of the team she's less familiar with. At Hilde's exclamation, she grins. "Won't say not to that!" she says, dusting off her hands, and preparing to celebrate the victory properly.
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Rodrik appears next to the group and cheers the victors. ”Small and mighty indeed!” He motions towards some tables a little distance away. ”Please, friends, the winners do not buy the first round. You won, so I will get this one and we can toast to you. Please, sit, and I will return shortly.”
The rest of the residents of Trunau continue the celebration. Other games and events look to be organized. There are archery targets being set up nearby and an obstacle course it seems. Ruby is expected to participate in each event but for at least the next few minutes she seems happy to be congratulated on the tug-of-war. The group can take a few moments to sit, have a drink, and enjoy the celebration. Ruby will soon enough pick the next event, and those who wish to may join her.
Rodrik returns to the table with enough mugs of ale for himself, his brother and the rest of the group. He sets the mugs down and passes them to those who have gathered around the table. Kurst joins and takes a mug with a nod as Rodrik raises his own glass. ”A toast to you.” Rodrik says. ”Those who have been here for some time and those who are new faces. Thank you for helping us celebrate Ruby’s day. You are welcome and I am grateful to have a chance to get to know you all a little better.” As he finishes his toast, he drinks deeply from the mug with his brother following his example.
Wild follows the eldest Grath brother to the table and sits down as directed. In a moment, he huffs and stands on the seat of the human-sized chair instead to await his prize. When Rodrik returns, he swiftly snatches a mug and sniffs its contents. Satisfied that the scent is far sweeter than the orc swill of his previous tribe, he splashes it down his throat.
Looking around the table, he gestures to the others with spilled ale flying off his beard and fingers. His common tongue is also not the greatest.
"I am gratefulness to be here too! Old tribe is dead. Shatter Moon orcs all rotting in marshes. Need new tribe. Stronger tribe. are new clan. New friends, yes?"
At Wild's words, Hilde turns...almost tender. "Family by choice is still family, and blessed by Bolka."
The teams of competitors continued to pull with the defenders managing to dig in a little more. Ruby and her teammates start to lose the momentum they had built, but not enough to keep the defenders from sliding across the center line. With one final pull, Rodrik stumbles forward and the crowd cheers loudly for Ruby and her teammates. Ruby lets out a loud bellow of excitement and smiles to the people who helped her achieve victory.
Rodrik dramatically falls to his knees and addresses the crowd. ”Ruby and her friends are too strong for us. We admit defeat and ask that you honor her victory.” He goes to stand but the Ruby runs over and tackles him back to the ground, where she is then joined by many of the other children of Trunau. Sara can’t help but laugh and even Jargin can be seen trying to hide a smile. Within moments the festival atmosphere returns and food is brought out.
Kurst lets the rope fall and slaps Vethorm on the shoulder with a laugh. ”Hey don’t look at me, I was pulling as best I could. It seems Ruby knows how to assemble a group that works well together. Maybe she should take over as Patrol Leader when father retires?” He leads the way over to the other team to congratulate them. He spreads his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. ”Clearly you are the mightier group!”
Kurst looks back at where Ruby, Rodrik, and the other kids are busy mock fighting then continues. ”Thanks you for your effort and for making Ruby feel important on her day. I know Halgra appreciates it as well.”
Vethorm faceplants as Ruby's team secures victory, before standing up amid the cheers of the townsfolk and wiping the dirt off his face. He takes Kurst's slap on the back and gives him a dirty look that quickly fades and he chuckles a bit.
"You KNOW the only way your pa will retire is if some orc puts an arrow in his knee and he's unable to stand up anymore," he says dryly. At Kurst's thanks, he sighs a bit and nods with a small smile. "Any time. Gods know I owe you more than one."
He follows Kurst to join the eclectic band now accepting a toast from Rodrick.
"Hey there, nice work on the rope," he comments. "Name's Vethorm. I was on the militia with Rod and Kurst a year or two ago, and Robin knows me as Councilwoman Staginsdar's failed apprentice." He note the two dwarves in the group. "You two...uh...relatives of hers or something?"
Robin raises a mug to Rodrik and Kurst as well "To you both for helping organize this. I'm certain they'll be wonderful memories for Ruby." He takes a sip of the ale afterward but it's just as strange tasting as the day he first tried some. He'd been raised on wine after all. Red. From the age of four. His parents were very particular. This recollection shows across his face as a sad twist of the mouth as he stares into the mug, but he quickly sets the mug - and his thoughts - aside.
"You were part of a tribe of orcs Wild? I didn't know that. How tragic if you're the only survivor. Tell me it isn't so?" He raises his eyebrows before adding "Though you picked well if you need a new tribe. Trunau is a lovely town, and the people very welcoming and very fierce both." He gives a smile to Vethorm and Purg before turning to Hilde and Ranhild "How about the two of you? Are you also looking for a place to call home?"
Hilde shakes her head. "No, I'm a priestess of Bolka, in town to perform a wedding for one of my cousins. My name is Hilde Forgedottir." She offers her hand to the half-orc. "I hope I'd have been as graceful in defeat as you, should the contest have gone the other way."
Vethorm accepts the handshake.
"Graceful? I'm just used to losing. Happens a lot when you're the runt of the family."
Purg looks at the archery targets with a longing, but the offer of a free drink is too hard to pass up. "Purg follow Gorum! He Lord of Iron. What is Bolka?" Purg liked to learn about other deities. They were not as good as the Goblin Hero-Gods, but who could hope to reach those heights? It was not okay to worship them in town though so Purg found Gorum from some of his Dwarf friends.
"You come to marry cousin? That... nice." Purg sounds dubious. Not that he would know the word.
"Hey there, nice work on the rope," he comments. "Name's Vethorm. I was on the militia with Rod and Kurst a year or two ago, and Robin knows me as Councilwoman Staginsdar's failed apprentice." He note the two dwarves in the group. "You two...uh...relatives of hers or something?"
"No, actually a guard with the caravan that arrives a few days ago. Heard quite a bit about the Hopeknife Ceremony, and wanted to witness it in person. I'm Ranhild, Ranhild Runeshield." she replies, reaching out to shake the half-orc's hand.
"How about the two of you? Are you also looking for a place to call home?"
Turning to respond to Robin's question she shrugs. "Honestly just looking to travel, explore and learn more...wherever that takes me,"
Vethorm shakes Ranhild's hand too.
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Rodrik looks around with a warm smile and occasionally takes a sip from his mug. ”Family is an important part of life, and marriage is often a wonderful extensions of it. Who are the lucky people to be wed?” He focuses on both Wild and Hilde for the moment. ”And more importantly, is it a private function or will the town have something else to celebrate? Perhaps Purg or some other hunter will be able to bring in an extra boar for the feast, or maybe an auroch?”
Kurst slides closer to Robin so as not to interrupt the other conversations. ”Your thanks are appreciated, but the whole town participates in organizing the festival.” He points across the commons to a group of tables with bowls laid own and a large pot to one end. ”Master Plumb is getting things ready for the porridge eating contest over there. And a little later in the night Miss Brinya will organize all the kids, and a few of the younger adults, in a town wide seeking contest. You should feel free to participate in any of these events and your team mates should as well.”
Hilde gives the names of the engaged couple .
Wild smiles at Robin's question and raises a medallion from his neck for all to see.
"I survives because I must. Town survives because it must. Meant to be here, we all are. For now..."
He then squints, spotting Vethorm and speaks up again. "You are here too! Good. Good. Will you join us to win? More tests to come."
Wild offers a handshake to Vethorm as well. More out of copying what he sees others doing than any type of courtesy.
Robin reaches out and inspects Wild's medallion with both hands, humming over the details in the piece "Simple, but impactful."
He looks over to Kurst "Hide and seek with the kids sounds like it could use a couple seekers. I'll leave the gorging on porridge to those who still have space in their stomachs." He glances at the two dwarves to invite them to join in.
"Oh, you are not getting married? Purg thought you say you marrying cousin." Purg seems very confused. Purg IS very confused. "Seeking? Purg best at hiding. No one hide better than Purg. Is how Purg stay alive." He nods excitedly. "Purg not as good at seeking."
Vethorm shakes Wild's hand and grimaces at the sight of his token.
"Yeah...impactful."
He absently rubs a tattoo on the side of his face, a rat fiercely clutching a gold coin, that Wild recognizes as a totemic orc symbol, that of the Blood God.
"That's quite alright Purg. If your gifts are in hiding, then you can advise the kids on all the best hiding places." Robin smiles "Though don't hide them *too* well, if you please. Some of us want to stand a chance."
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Kurst keeps an eye on the group but it is clear he lets his brother do most of the talking. Rodrik’s natural charisma shows in how comfortable he is with new people. ”If you are planning on sticking around Wild, perhaps I could convince you to join either Kurst or myself out on patrol with the militia? We could always use a strong warrior out there, and if you have experience with orcs your knowledge could be most helpful.”
Rodrik smiles and looks towards Vethorm as he continues. ”Vethorm here has served, and served well. I have tried to get Purg to join in, and the invitation stands as always.” He motions to Purg but then turns to Robin as well. ”That invitation extends to you Robin. I know Sara could spare you for a time, especially with the new apprentice she brought on.”
Around the tables the kids begin to make their way over to the archery targets and Rodrik looks to see where the preparations are at. ”It looks like the archery contest is about to begin. Now Purg, if you wish to go please remember that it is Ruby’s day. I think Kurst and I will stay here for another round of drinks.” Kurst nods and heads over to the stall where Rabus Clarenston is serving ale to bring another round for the group.
Purg considers Rodrik's words. It is Ruby's day. Purg thinks. He thinks a lot. He thinks for like seven whole seconds, which is an eternity in Goblin time. "Purg know he can win at archery. Purg know he can win at hiding. Purg think Rod-Rick know that he is good at hiding and archery. Purg not think anyone else need to know." The small green "adult" (13) smiles and drinks slowly at his ale. He doesn't have the tolerance of much of anyone, and knows that if he drinks two ales he will regret it in the morning.
Vethorm gives a kind of halfway-grimace-smile at Rodrik's compliment. It was hard to not offer a self-deprecating retort. Take the damn compliment, you gorthek's arse, you KNOW Rodrik's just that nice! he thinks to himself. The retort comes anyway.
"I think your pa would disagree on the 'served well' part," he says, trying to smile more so it looked like he was just joking around.
He accepts the drink when Kurst returns with them, though.