"I think it's gonna be okay, boyos. These guys are just trying to keep themselves safe. Someone come with me though, please? I nominate Sgrack and Sron."
Keth nods. I dont like it. But Ill accept the choice. He pauses and looks at Lupiel and stares straight in his eyes. Know this. If any harm comes to any of my friends. I will feed your entrails to Woolf here.
he gestures at the wolf standing next to him.
Woolf bares his fangs menacingly Grrrrrrrr!
Sron nods. He hopes he doesn't have to do much talking. He was never good with social interaction. Father referred to it as "flawed theory of mind". Keth's threat grabs his attention somewhat. Is intimidation rather than conciliation a good thing? Or is it better to trick people? He wonders how to choose between the three...
Meila follows Lupiel with Sron and Sgrack in tow
Sgrack grabs another mushroom and follows with his big hammer resting on his shoulder. "Sgrack go. Meila safe."
This was a new experience for him. Never before had he met people who took his eccentricities in stride. He was not yet sure how he felt about it, as he had always enjoyed the discomfort most people felt at his strange mannerisms, yet there was something to this newfound acceptance.
Somewhat wary of the new acquaintances, Irizzle strolled over to Keth and his hound, shielding preparation of his weapon from view just in case, asking Keth, ”So Keth, how did you come to meet this fine creature?”
Keth smiles at Irizzle and launches into the tale...
Keth lay under the boughs of the great oak slowly waking in the cold fall morning. He shifted and felt a few roots digging into his side and shifted again. He blinked sleep away from his eyes and then with a realization born of nigh unto supernatural oneness with his surroundings, he was fully awake with the knowledge he was not alone in the small clearing.
He moved his hand to the dagger he always kept nearby and slowly tried to take in his campsite without seeming to be awake. As his head rotated his gaze fell on the black furred animal near the edge of his camp standing looking inquisitively back at the Half-Orc. The dog-like wolf cocked its head one way and then another as it looked on. Keth tried not to appear offensive as he moved to sit up. The Wolf wagged his tail once looked on, wagged it again...and then glanced up at the corpse of the deer hanging just out of its reach suspended from a tree limb; Keths success with the hunt from the day before.
A soft whine and the wolf looked back at Keth yet again. Keth looked puzzled. This animal should've been a foe..a predator, but here it was acting like a pet....He scowled. Then got up off his haunches and said softly You hungry boy? An answering lick of the lips and a soft whine, as if it had understood him. Still scowling, Keth moved forward, dagger in his fist thinking to himself...I should strike quickly before it remembers its a wolf but the look of hunger plain on its face, and the friendly gaze it gave The Hunter was enough to soften his heart. With a quick slash of the dagger, the haunch of the deer he had been saving dropped to the ground and the black wolf went at it, tearing meat from bone with a vigor, hardly glancing at Keth at all.
He shrugged and went to sit at the base of the tree and watched the wolf for a good half hour, before the wolf paused to groom himself. Keth must have been tired...carelessly, he dozed off...It could only have been for a brief second, but when his eyes snapped back open, the wolf lay next to him, it's head resting on his lap....a slow smile spread across his face and he reached down almost subconsciously and rubbed it behind the ears...a wagging tail was his reward.....I'll call you Wolf said the clearly unimaginative Hunter....
Woolf saw Keth glance at him and heard the tone of voice that meant fondness as The Master began to talk. He smiled in his Wolf like manner....
Lupiel leads the group around the corner a short way to a small more privet cave with another hut.
From the wall out steps a Female again nearly naked except for some leather straps loosely covering her breasts and small shorts coving her privates. Even with these 'clothes' she still blends into her surroundings automatically.
"I am Sef. Leader of our small tribe. In the intrest of preserving the lives of my people I wish to make a deal."
Meila bows extravagantly "I'm Meila, and this is Sgrack, and this is Sron. What's the deal, leader Sef?"
Sef eyes each of you up and down.
"I don't know what you two are capable of." Sef says while eyeing Meila and Sron pausing a second on Srons strange eyes. Before looking to Sgrack. "But him he is definitely capable especially with the help of the animal out there. You see since my tribe moved here we have been beset by both pests and adventures alike. With the death of many of our number we are less capable of defending ourselves. So we wish to make a deal. If you and yours rid us of our pests and promise to leave us and our home unmolested we will return the favor as well as tell you everything we know about what lies beyond the metal wall that we explored before we lost our numbers."
"Sron and I are magic." Meila replies with a smile. "Actually, most of us are magic. Irizzle's kinda magic, cuz he knows alchemy and tech which are kind of like magic. And Keth is a nature magic person. So yeah, it's actually just Sgrack and Woolf who aren't magic. But they're very, very strong." She rambles, though with clear pride in her team. "I don't like anyone moles... messing with anyone else if they don't have to. So yeah, we could deal with the pests. Then we'd be super grateful to hear anything you can like tell us about the metal wall. And I think Sron would like to know more about the different peoples who came here to mess with you. The details. Most of em I don't think we care about, but there was one guy that we do want to learn what happened to him. He was very important to some of us. So, do we got a deal?"
"Our Mole problem as you put it are actually some tiny fey they frequent the north eastern portion of the caves above the cliffs behind my hut. They steal anything they can get their tiny claws on and they like to poke people with their little needle daggers. Only two groups came this far. The first were a mixed bunch like yourselves but they all wore rope wrappings on their fists and fought with their hands. They attacked us on sight and we routed them at least two fled but they were bleeding badly so I don't they made it out. The second group we assumed were associated with the first so we acted in defense under ther orders of our Shaman. Unfortunately one of their number was apt with magic and chemistry and brought our dozen down to four leaving me in charge. We surrendered to this man and he left with a creature from beyond the wall. When next his group came only one returned bloody and crawling. He made it to the room full of mold and perished. I appreciate your kindness and forwardness but I would insist you deal with our pests before I tell you more."
Meila's perky ears flop down slightly as a sad frown forms. She holds Sron's hand and looks up into his eyes, with worry in her's.
”A most magnificent tale, friend Keth! Mayhappenstance mingles with mischance in a mysterious miasma of mateship?”
Sron takes in Sef's story. He prepared himself for the possibility of Father's death but he needed to be sure. While he does not need Meila to hold his hand, the gesture is still welcome.
"Can you describe the man to us?" asks Sron "The one who new magic and chemistry?"
Keth stares at Irrizle as he tries to figure out what the gnome said with a puzzled look on his face...
Woolf was looking in the direction the 3 party members had headed in waiting for their return.
Sef:"He was a strong man with a stubbly face and long black hair and a tattoo on his left arm."
This is a pretty recognizable description of Kohnnir
"Are you sure he is dead? If there are any remains I must have them,"says Sron. He pauses briefly, his face expressionless and when he speaks again his voice is absolutely even. All the same, those who are more astute at reading people feel as if he is changed by this, irrevocably.
[b]"He is survived by a daughter. She will be devastated,"[b]
Meila holds Sron's hand tighter.
Sgrack frowns, not completely understand what is going on but catching bits of informations. "Khonnir dead? Not lost? Not hurt? Not hiding?"
He then shakes his head. "Khonnir only dead when Sgrack see body."
Sron pats Melia's hand saying softly "It's alright Melia, I..., I do not require emotional labour. I resemble the robots we fought earlier: bereft of sentiment,"
Sef:"Go now to your friends let and decide if you will help us. I will wait here for your answer."
"Okay..." Meila replies, both to Sron and Sef. She places a comforting hand on Sgrack's shoulder, and returns to Keth, Woolf, and Irizzle.
"Hey guys. They didn't kill us. So they've offered us like a deal. They'll let us through the wall of metal and tell us everything they know if we do some pest control. They've got tiny fey poking them with little needles. They mentioned that Khonnir is probably dead in a room full of mold."
Keth looks at Meila and then he says...the body in the cave we backed away from? Khonnir? Mayhap we need to backtrack to confirm thats him. maybe try and rescue the body> then he thinks about the fey...I dont like the idea of attacking fey 'just because' most fey are not evil and are far more natural. Why would the fey be 'poking' them with needles....err tiny swords. unless this tribe is in fact not benign.?
Woolf cared not for the conversation going on he squatted and scratched his shoulder.
"Midunno, but they're poking them and stealing stuff. Can you talk to fey and ask them?"
I dont speak Fey, but many speak the common tongue. A thought. What if these are trying to 'soften' us up Can any of you discern a creatures natural bent towards good or evil?
"I can see good in everyone." Meila muses
Go back to them and ask them for all the information they have on these Fey, and how we can get to them...leave it as an implied yes we will deal with it...and from how they relayed the information about the man who crawled back out..I dont think it was Khonnir. I think it was a member of his group
Still not interested in the conversation Woolf moves around smelling the huts.
"Okay, I can do that." Meila says. She turns around and walks back to Sef. "Hey, can you tell us more about these fey? We wanna know what exactly they are, and could you tell us how many too?"
Sef:"Their numbers vary but can usually be counted on one hand. They are tiny with many pointed teeth, glowing orange eyes and ears like bat wings. They make home often in the caves northeast of here you have to climb the clif there just east of my hut. Their caves are cramped and dark."
"Okay, thanks." Meila says. She returns to her companions.
"Okay, so. There aren't many, probably less than five. They're small, and toothy, and their eyes glow like orange. They got cute little bat ears and wings. Their caves are northeast and we gotta climb a cliff east of Sef's hut. The caves are small, and of course dark... probably dank too."
Keth moves to the cave near the leaders abode and looks up at the 10' cliff trying to figure out the height of the roof above the caves.
Woolf follows behind sniffing the air.
”They say my people were Fey once?”
Meila follows after Keth
"I can see it. Like you're so excited and interesting and like totally not boring." Meila replies with a smile
The ceiling of the cave above is only about 5ft above its floor.
Keth frowns. We could be having trouble fighting in these cramped spaces.
He sets his spear against the 10' tall rise, and picks up Woolf helping him up the embankment. After he picks up the spear and sets it atop and then climbs up carefully with Woolf standing guard until hes up top also, stooping in the cramped cavern.
Woolf uncomfortably allows the master to lift him up and quickly clambers away into the cave that is just perfectly suited for his size. He sniffs the air expectantly as the Master comes up behind him.
Meila will try to climb up the cliff, then use her dancing lights to make a vague humanoid light, dancing down the cave.
Irizzle also attempts to climb.
The companions taking their time an aiding each other scale the small cliff to the upper ledge. The ceiling is close only 5ft. high so all of you except for Irizzle and Woolf must stoop down to move. The area ahead winds in many directions. Woolf's nose is certain the caves are occupied but the scent covers the whole area and is unsure which way to go.
Keth waves Woolf forward in front of him as he advances through the low ceilinged tunnel, his spear out in front of him until he comes to the first junction and a vantage point looking down into another low area with doors and a lot of rubble.
he looks to his left first fora possible ambush then to the right.
Woolf moved forward at the masters urging, his nose to the ground sniffing and ears alert for any noise as he sniffed with every step. glancing uop occasionally...looking for the creatures that had this scent
Sgrack follows, his massive frame making it hard for him to move.