Deep Water and Shoals II

[Tonguez]

Malachi gazes silentlyat the Grugach around him, his face still passive, even grim. He does not speak to them and though he follows their direction he makes it clear in his stance that hedoes so by his own choice and not by their compulsion.

He moves with them using his own skill at tracking to keep pace and position as they move along the shoreline, seeking any clue that the captain might be near.

(wilderness lore check 11+5 = 16)

 

[Bob Aberton]

Malachi,

The tracks of the Captain and Jonah are not hard to follow, as they walked close alongside the muddy riverbank.

One odd thing that you do notice, however, is that after a few miles of the Captain's and Jonah's tracks, a third set of footprints joins them, walking alongside and in the same direction.

Also at the conjunction of these tracks is a leaf, pinned to the trunk of a willow tree with a six-inch steel dart, a decidedly dangerous looking instrument.

The elves do not say anything beyond monosyllabic words, either to you or between themselves. They are reminiscent of bloodhounds, latched onto a trail and excluding all outside distractions.

Malthas,

The chieftain considers your words.

"I do wrong," he says slowly, "In speaking of you and your Brethren - and your Kep-tan - as friends or lackeys of...of...Inchin'dewah*. You - " he makes a sweeping motion with his arm, accomodating all in the boat, and presumably the rest of the crew of the CALYPSO'S GRACE - "Are a people after my own heart. If your Kep-tan lives when we find him, I speak with him as equal, though the blood of my Brethren is on his hands."

Reiter,

Your mind still befuddled with laudanum, you have a vague impression of people - eight, or maybe four - emerging from the trees, although the trees in question waver in strangely contorted fashions, and their leaves gleam dully with colors not normally associated with trees.

The other impression you have is of a pair of oddly identical (or perhaps you're seeing double) figures wearing blue captain's greatcoats nudging you none too gently in the ribs.

You catch the words "Wake," "Useless," and "Grugach." You also hear someone in the background speaking gibberish in smooth, musical tones.

(OOC: Sorry that I haven't included you in the latest posts; I figured that, laudanum being a narcotic and an anesthetic, Reiter would be unconscious or at least in a barely coherent state for some time...Btw, the laudanum is imposing a -4 initiative penalty until it wears off, as well as an effective -2 to DEX and INT. I'm roughly extrapolating the effects from Broadsides! chapter on pharmacopia and from my own off the top of my head knowledge about laudanum and opium.)

*Grugach curse word, probably meaning something along the lines of "diggers of clams" or some such.

 

[dead_radish]

Malthas smiles. "We would be honored, Heart-of-a-Thousand-Oaks. And I am certain the Captain would not have acted as he did had he known your people."

 

[Bob Aberton]

(OOC: BUMP. I'm waiting for Malachi and/or Reiter and/or Jonah to respond before making the DM Post, for convenience's sake.)

 

[Xael]

Jonah takes a deep breath and ansvers: "I'm called Jonah. The short version is that we were traveling to some plantations upriver but couldn't make it before nightfall and had to camp in the forest. At night we were attacked by your people. During the battle, two of our companions died, while two "Friends" fled with our raft, leaving us (Johan waves his hand towards the captain) in the forest. We've been trying to get out of here since."

Jonah waits for the ansver while continuing: "But it would be more appropriate if my captain took part in the conversation. I'll work as an interpreter."

Jonah slowly gets up and shortly informs the captain about what the elves said, also mentioning what he told them and that he'll work as an interpreter.

 

[Tonguez]

Malachi grimaces when he sees the dart and moving towards the tree he checks to see if anything is untoward before he reaches up to pull it out.

Looking about he wonders what the meaning of the dart might be - is it a Grugach signal? The leaf and apparent lack of blood do not suggest it was used in aggression.

He looks over at the nearest of the Grugach assessing its reaction before moving on...

 

[Bob Aberton]

Jonah,

The Captain mulls over your exchange with the elf.

"T' tell th' truth," he mutters, "Fine words never were me strong point...Let me see...alright. Alright, tell this River Mind fellow thet we, ah, we sincerely regret any misunderstandin'. Tell 'em thet we had no...no malicious intent, an' thet we hope we can...err...alleviate this unfortunate misunderstandin'. Thet sounds pretty diplomatic, doesn't it? Y' can elaborate on it, o' course. Just try t' appear friendly and non-aggressive; if they get it in their minds t' be offended, our lives won't amount to a glass man o' war. P'raps we can even work out some favorable agreement with them."

Malachi,

The Grugach appear as puzzled over the dart as you. They examine it cautiously, with even a hint of disdain; it is clearly not one of their weapons.

Malthas,

The barest hint of a smile flashes across the chieftain's face, then he is impassive again. He lapses into silence once more, and the boat crawls on upriver.

 

[dead_radish]

Malthas does his best to emulate the Chieftan's impassive silence, but sadly, fails miserably. He attempts to chat about things that come to mind as they sail, not prying, merely being friendly.

 

[Bob Aberton]

(OOC: Bit of BUMP, so someone else can respond before the DM post...Guess we've got Talk Like a Pirate Day covered here, eh, mateys? )

 

[Uriel]

Nico sends his thoughts to Artimus, telling him to come back towards the River, so as to move more in line with the party.