[Adventure] Marna is Missing (DM: pacdidj, Judge: renau1g)

[pacdidj]

Show yourself or face arcane fury! shouts Alnar in the mangroves direction in Allarian, Hzakan and Draconic.

"Galkurra, galkurra! Hold on! Easy mate. It me, Botj," says a wizened old man as he steps out from under the mangrove canopy. It is the same deeply-lined face that four of you saw floating above a barroom table in the Hanged Man. This time however, it is firmly attached to a short, stooped old man with pitch-dark skin, long frizzy white hair, and an even longer grey beard. He wears almost nothing save a long leather tunic made of some reptilian hide, bound round the waist with a belt made of some sort of dark stringy material. It appears he was traveling barefoot with only a gnarled cane fashioned out of a dark red wood to assist him.

"I been knowin you mob was coming here with the horned man. Saw it in the dream. Bit earlier than I expected though..."

Botj pauses for a moment, shaking out some leaves and twigs that had lodged in his hair and beard while walking through the mangroves. He then looks your party over, his gaze resting on Ferris for a moment. "Seem like maybe I seen you before, eh furry fella? You one of Snarl's people?... Well, don't matter, I guess..."

"I glad in me heart to see you lot," he says to the entire party, "cause we needin your help for true. And speakin bout that, time is short. The ringgitj gonna start soon. That's like a, a what you call it? Tribal council, maybe? All the leaders of the four clans they meeting now up at the wahnga, eh? You follow, I take you there. Them gotta meet you before they trust you enough to talk about tjurunga. Secret business, it is."

Noting the position of the sun, he says, "Hope you ready for a walk. You follow and I take you there. I answer your questions on the way."

The old man steps back into the mangrove canopy, clearly expecting you to follow.

 

[Luinnar]

Alnar laughs I thought you said you were not old! he says, almost to himself. At least you look like you can get around good. Come on Draco, let's follow him. Alnar says following Botj and still laughing.

 

[samursus]

Scooping a handful of sand, Ferris utters a silent thanks to Dayna and scatters the sand as he follows Botj.

 

[Dekana]

Jezebel follows just behind the old man. The heat of the day doesn't bother her, but she begins to show the exertion of walking around in full plate after awhile.

She wonders if there might be savage, overgrown jungle rodents around, but she remains silent. Surely, the old man or Ferris would have mentioned such a danger.

ooc: Sorry for the slow posts lately. I'm still here, just busy with final exams.

 

[pacdidj]

At the Ringgitj

[sblock=ooc]Since it seems like there aren't any questions for Botj in transit, I'm going to skip ahead.[/sblock]

The journey through the mangroves proves to be an arduous one. You spend several hours hacking through and tripping over the smaller mangrove roots, though as you move further inland the mangroves get progressively taller, and you end up having to climb over the giant roots as they are too thick to chop through.

By late afternoon you come to a branch in the river. Taking the smaller westward branch, Botj leads you into flat, marshy terrain where the mangroves thin out, and the predominant flora are eucalypts and palms.

Plodding along through the mud, you are suddenly startled when Botj calls out a greeting up into the trees: "Way! Walala! Whanhamala ringgitj'ku?"

Looking up you see a group of people sitting on a platform fashioned of logs and rushes, one of them trailing a fishing line into the river shallows below. They examine your party with impassive faces, then in response to Botj's question, simply point to a spot on the other side of the water.

"Manymak," says Botj, nodding his thanks, "follow this way."

He leads you across the water using the rocks above a shallow rapids as stepping stones, and finally to a larger version of the platform you saw on the other side that rests upon a solitary and truly enormous mangrove tree. You follow him up a rope ladder to find a group of about twenty people seated in a large circle. Botj briefly addresses the assembly, "Ringgijt ma. Dhangu djambatj mala."

Rather than making introductions all around, Botj whispers an aside to your party. "This the Ringgitj, eh? The, uh, elder council. Leaders of the four clans all here. That one there's Dhakanmirr. Leader of my clan," says botj, pointing to an a very old, clean shaven man with thinning hair and slightly bugged-out eyes, sitting at about 9'oclock relative to the position of the ladder. "Over there is Larrani. She the leader of the Munhaku, the sunrise people," he indicates a rotund, jolly-looking old woman seated directly across from you. Pointing to the right at a wiry man, with steel-grey curly hair on his head, chin, and chest, Botj says, "That one's Dhawu, leader of the Waltjan clan over by Moonshadow Lake." And finally with a wave of his hand he indicates a younger, albeit middle aged man with long black hair and a goatee, saying, "And him Matjala. He the leader of the Djaapana clan down south. The ones that needing your help."

"Show em all proper respect, eh?" Botj implores, though given the blantantly apparent difference in social customs among these people, you're not at all sure how to accomplish this. After bringing you up to speed Botj simply finds an open spot on the floor of the platform and sits down, motioning you to do likewise.

There are a few moments of uncomfortable silence, and then the one Botj identified as Dhakanmirr speaks in a dry voice, far less accented than Botj's, "Welcome adventurers. Why do you seek to help my people?"

 

[samursus]

"Honor to ye, Elder. I cannot speak for the others, but I am here because I know yer people, and that you honor the teachings of my mistress... whether ye know it or not. Dayna would have me aid ye in yer time of troubles, so I will"

Ferris steps back and lets the other speak.

 

[Luinnar]

There are a few moments of uncomfortable silence, and then the one Botj identified as Dhakanmirr speaks in a dry voice, far less accented than Botj's, "Welcome adventurers. Why do you seek to help my people?"

I cannot speak for my companions as I have just met them. Alnar says looking at Dhakanmirr.

As for me, I don't need a reason to help people... I find the satisfaction of helping someone in need rewarding in itself. Alnar says with a smile.

 

[Dekana]

Jezebel speaks to Dhakanmirr next, after Alnar. Sitting with the others, she lets her arms hang by her side, faces her open palms toward the elder, and bows her head slightly.

"Honored Elder. My partners are a charitable group as you can see. However, not everyone can be expected to spend their time - and possibly risk their lives - for charity. Botj has promised girri in reward for our efforts, or I would not be here."

She looks at Matjala, the leader of the Djaapana.

"I am your instrument in this matter. Your eyes for the investigation, your voice in negotiations, and your sword in warfare."

[sblock=link to recruitment speech]It took me a few minutes of scrolling through tavern pages to reference the original offer from Botj. Here's the link in case it saves anyone else a little time:
Botj's apparition appears in the tavern. (the discussion is spread out over the next few pages)[/sblock]

 

[pacdidj]

"Honor to ye, Elder. I cannot speak for the others, but I am here because I know yer people, and that you honor the teachings of my mistress... whether ye know it or not. Dayna would have me aid ye in yer time of troubles, so I will"

Dhakanmirr srutinizes Ferris for a moment before saying,"Ah, you serve one of the great powers. Your word can be trusted then, even if it is not yours to give."

I cannot speak for my companions as I have just met them. Alnar says looking at Dhakanmirr. As for me, I don't need a reason to help people... I find the satisfaction of helping someone in need rewarding in itself. Alnar says with a smile.

"Is good help others child," says the fat lady who Botj had identified as Larrani, favoring Alnar with a beatific, and patient smile, "Many need help, few can give. But, is good know the reasons for help, so you can help the right ones."

"Honored Elder. My partners are a charitable group as you can see. However, not everyone can be expected to spend their time - and possibly risk their lives - for charity. Botj has promised girri in reward for our efforts, or I would not be here." She looks at Matjala, the leader of the Djaapana. "I am your instrument in this matter. Your eyes for the investigation, your voice in negotiations, and your sword in warfare."

The curly headed elder named Dhawu nods as he listens to Jezebel. Seeing this gesture, Matjala defers to let the senior man speak. When he does it is in a nasal, yet resonant voice that carries for all to hear: "Nge. Girri, valuable things. This one talks good sense. Wise to know the value of things and actions."

Dhawu then stands up and begins to pace in the center of the circle as he continues to speak his thoughts, "My people believing knowledge is power, understand? It also valuable. Can only be given to someone who is ready, and only then after they pay a price for it. We call this buku-djungi, it mean give something valuable, get something valuable. Like what you call contract, maybe."

"See my people want make buku-djungi with you mob. We need knowledge. Need to know why tjurunga went missing. Is serious matter. Tjurunga is link to the ancestors that provide for us on this wahnga Kythira. Without tjurunga our people go hungry, in danger from hungry animal, plant, and monster. Water dries up. Everything yatjkurru. Very bad. Already the Djaapana suffer," he says looking at Matjala, who nods in confirmation.

"We need know why tjurunga gone. Probably someone take it, tjurunga always well-hidden or guarded. But why? Why they take this thing, and who would do it? Will they take other tjurunga? Will all our people suffer as Djaapana people do? This the knowledge we seek. But can't seek it ourselves, understand? Maybe it is neighbors who take tjurunga. Shifters, gnomes, more of them on this wahnga than us. Can't muddy the waters with our suspicion. Make neighbors angry, make it hard for us. So we make buku-djungi with you. You give us the knowledge, maybe give us back tjurunga, we give you girri, use the blood of the ancestors to make powerful and valuable thing." Having apparently spoken his piece, the wiry old man takes his seat, but as he does so, Dhakanmirr takes the floor and picks up where he left off.

Speaking in his dry, rasping voice Dhakanmirr "Adventurers be warned! Buku-djungi is not to be entered into lightly. Our ancestors, the primal spirits of this land listen to those who speak in buku-djungi. Their power makes the agreement law. Those who break buku-djungi suffer the wrath of the spirits of this land. Once you take the vow you must fulfill it to the letter."

"What's more, Kythira is a dangerous place even for those who have the ancestors' favor. You will likely encounter savage beasts and other perils in these forests while pursuing your investigations. With this in mind, do all of you still wish to commit to this buku-djungi?" asks the bug eyed old man, his gaze focusing particularly on the three who have yet to speak.

[sblock=roll call]Just want to make sure everyone's still with us at this point. Haven't heard from Phoenix in a while, and it's been even longer since Bobode or Atriden have posted. We're getting into the meat of the adventure here, and I'd rather not have to NPC 2 or more characters in combat and skill challenges, but I don't want to write anyone out who'd still like to be with us either.[/sblock]

 

[Phoenix8008]

OOC: I'm here still. RL has been busier now that I'm employed again so I was posting only where absolutely necessary. I'll try not to hold things up.