A Sojourn in Sairundan [Judge: Manzanita]

[Rystil Arden]

[SBLOCK=Lasair]*Lasair cocks her head slightly in thought.*

'He is just fulfilling his zij to protect his vhal...but on the other hand, forcing someone's love is a barbarous act of cruelty. I shall have to help him come to that conclusion himself.'

'Did I give too much away? No, he must have a tracker who could figure that out anyway. If anything, I may have made it seem that they are even farther away than they are.'

*Lasair nods.*

"I shall of course accept your gift. To do otherwise would be an insult to your vhal, though to think I would have kept some for myself," she shakes her head, "I have little value for money--it means nothing compared to vhal. Indeed, if I had found any of the coin was missing, I would have replenished it from my own."

"But that is not of chief concern. There are three things that are...The less important first--your people need their warriors and--"

'Oh by the sands, what do they call the ones who submit themselves to the emotional parasites...Michael and Kurghaz and Wil, they're--ah right, priests!'

The pause is nearly non-existent, as she simply slows the whole last sentence by a bit to simultaneously wrack her brain, "--priests to protect them, particularly at the moment. I came across an ogre that had set up a detour on the path and slain many. The people...I think they may have been of the River Folk like you. I returned them to Galatea after defeating the ogre. And then there was a second bandit attack in barely more than as many days which I thwarted,"

'So not going to mention that the second attack was Jilna and friends.'

"But I am just passing through and I will not be here the next time--it seems this area is becoming dangerous, and while your vhal may demand that you return your daughter, I believe that protecting your people is also important."

"Second, and more practically, their group has horses. Now, they actually do not have horses for all eight of them which may be why you are still less than a day behind, but they do have more than enough for Jilna and her spirit-sister as well as Jonka and his spirit-brother. If you persist enough to close the gap, they may well be forced to have those on horses pull ahead and leave the others behind, and you would return with the random hangers-on, but neither the eloped bride nor her groom."

'All true. If he gets too close, my horse is no object. Jilna at least will escape.'

"Last, and perhaps most importantly, while the duty of a father among your people may demand that you return her against her will, though truly it is not this way among my people, what is your duty as a grandfather? Galatea has granted your land her precious gift of water and life, a great bounty of which my people, who live amongst the desert could barely even dream. Surely as Galatea is the giver of life, your people must respect and honour that new life? Jilna is with child. Your unborn grandchild--perhaps a beautiful baby girl who will possess her mother's fierce spirit, or a strong baby boy who will grow into a strapping young lad and then a great warrior like his grandfather," she watches reactions on both of those options to see which one he likes better and continues with that (OOC: I'll assume he'd prefer a grandson, but if the other, replace all 'he' with 'she' in reference to the child), "Doesn't he deserve to live with his loving family, to have his father and mother there with him as he is growing up? Don't you owe him that too as his grandfather?...I know how it is, to lose your family...Even as a young woman or as an adult, it is a hard thing, but for a growing child, it is hardest of all."

"I am sorry that I have spoken so long, but I felt I must tell you these things," Lasair nods her head solemnly.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Trouvere]

[sblock=Kurgahz, Shadya, and Conuld: ]"We killed an ogre two bridges back," says Conuld. "It does not seem as though any road wardens had been that way in a long time - the bridge was out, though there was a passable detour - which led us straight to the ogre. When we met more bandits at the last bridge, we set them on a better path. You might be wise to turn back for now and bring hired protection with you when you set out again. My name is Conuld, by the way. I am from Orussus. How far is it along the road to the next settlement? We travel a little faster than your cart, I think, though perhaps we will meet again in town."[/sblock]

 

[AGFlynn]

Cludge Slatefist, Fighter 2 (HP:22 AC:15)

Cludge sits miserably in his small clearing, trying desperately to suppress his urge to swat Meliana as she climbs all over him. Nice... little.. spider thingy, he says with a shiver. Yer quite the little acrobat, ain't ya? He tightens the collar of his chainmail and attempts to hold Meliana at arm's length.
C'mon, Lasair, he mumbles. Let's get this over with.

 

[Phoenix8008]

Kurgahz follows along with the others keeping his eyes on the former bandits as well as the area around them.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

[sblock=Lasair: ]Jilna's father's facial expression is mostly neutral as Lasair goes through her first two points. When she begins talking about Jilna's child, however, his face contorts into a complex mixture of what Lasair reads as despair, pride, love, and fury. His ziivash ripples wildly. (She indeed decides, based on the confusing information, that the boy child pleases him most.) When she finishes, he is breathing heavily. The priest is looking at him with great concern, and the warriors look terribly confused, as though they have never seen their brave leader in this state before. Jilna's father slowly mumbles something in his native tongue, and the priest hesitates before responding with a lengthy, halting speech. He sounds guilty to Lasair. Jilna's father's expression slowly returns to neutral.

Having regained his composure somewhat, he speaks slowly in Common, not looking at Lasair. "Galatea's font tells me... that Jilna, Jonka and both of their spirit-siblings have already performed the union ceremonies." He turns to look at the priest, a look of fierce disappointment in his eyes. "Had I known this... Well, my oath was made on false premises, and it no longer binds me." Now he looks back down the road, across the bridge, sadly. "I did not give her enough credit. She is..." He trails off, not finishing the sentence. He wipes his eye, though no tears are on his cheeks. He then barks an order to the two warriors. They jump to attention, then nod and retreat into the woods on this side of the bridge. Jilna's father says something else, not looking at anybody. The priest looks upward and closes his eyes, shame and quiet resignation evident on his face.

Jilna's father looks back at Lasair. "I have called off the search. This news changes everything. If you see them again... Tell... Tell my daughter... no, my children... that I would very much like to see them again. Some day." The fury is gone from his face, but the despair still lingers alongside the love and pride.[/sblock]
[sblock=Kurgahz, Shadya, and Conuld: ]"About half a day's travel back to the first bridge, and then another day to the town," the man answers Conuld's question. "Killed an ogre, you say? They are mighty brutes, or so I hear... But I suppose with enough hands, you can bring just about anything down." He eyes the large group, unimpressed. "Yes, yes, you're quite right. I was a fool to leave town without a guard, but you know, these days I cannot even trust hired mercenaries. And apparently I cannot trust the roadwardens to do their jobs either. By 'Toni's beard, what do I pay taxes for, anyway?" His wagon is slowly shifted back and forth until it faces south west, back the way he came. "I thank you kindly for the information, sirs and madame. Perhaps I shall see you in Antreil. Good travels."[/sblock]

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

[sblock=Cludge: ]Cludge is suddenly relieved when Meliana leaps from his back into the bushes. The little legged crystal quickly reemerges, however, with a long green snake behind her. Meliana scurries behind Cludge.

Round 1:
Initiative
Small Viper
Cludge

The little snake hisses and lashes out at Cludge, its poisonous fangs sinking into Cludge's thigh. The sting is of the fangs is not so bad. His dwarven constitution sloughs off the effects of the venom. (1 damage)

Cludge...[/sblock]

 

[Rystil Arden]

[SBLOCK=Lasair](OOC: Random thought--while Lasair will indeed tell Jilna and the others what the father has said, how does he know that she will see them again? Her guise is that of a concerned passerby who passed them along the road)

*Lasair smiles, a bit relieved that she has succeeded without the use of Telepathy.*

'It is natural for a father who is close to his daughter to have a little bit of despair to see his little girls grow up and leave home or become a bride, even in these strange lands...Alric...that look in his eyes...it reminds me so of the day I...'

"You are a man of great vhal. You must tell me your name, for I should not want to call you only 'Jilna's father' " she insists, pausing to let him answer.

(OOC: But to save us time with back and forth posts, I'll continue anyway, and use <NAME> to indicate the name)

"Then <NAME>, know that I will tell them this if I pass them again along the road. Can you tell me how to say the same thing in the tongue of your homeland? I am afraid that of the eight, only Jilsa shares a language with me."

*If he does so, she will use Autohypnosis to commit the entire speech to memory, including inflections (OOC: it usually goes up to 800 words per go, so this should just be a handwaving trivial usage for the flavour benefit that she pronounces it flawlessly).*

*She repeats it once for him to hear and then nods.*

"Thank you, <NAME>. You have been very generous in your gift of 10 platinum, so know that we must meet again so I can return it in kind. Perhaps when I pass back this way again after my Sojourn in Sairundan. It may seem redundant in this land of much water, but I shall give my people's traditional blessing on a parting--May you always find water and shade, <NAME>."

*If that is all, Lasair prepares to continue along the path, communicating with Meliana to get the psicrystal to lead Cludge back to the main path so they can meet up.*

'Hey Meliana--good news! Jilsa and her friends are going to be okay! How are things over with Cludge? Come on back to the main path and we'll meet up.'
[/SBLOCK]

 

[AGFlynn]

Cludge Slatefist, Fighter 2 (HP:21 AC:15)

Gaaaa! Shouts Cludge, quickly taking up his sword and scrambling to his feet. Ouch! Dammit, little one! Thas some kinda snake! He takes a mighty swing at the little green snake (Cludge attack: 12) slamming the point into the ground wide of his target.

OOC: (To speed things up, here's attack roll #2: 15, which I think also misses)

 

[Trouvere]

[sblock=Kurgahz, Shadya, and Conuld: ]When they are a little way ahead, Conuld asks "do you know anything of this town Antreil, Jilsa?"

OOC: are we happy to leave the wagoneer and push on?[/sblock]

 

[Phoenix8008]

[sblock=Kurgahz, Shadya, and Conuld]OOC: I'm okay to keep going.[/sblock]