[AU] Siege on Ebonring Keep

[Mirth]

"Ys-Baddaden is the name I go by, Yaren," the giant says as he leans on his morningstar and looks the litorian over. "This Truthspeeker put out the call and we have answered. Perhaps it would be best if we talked with her, hmm?" he raises his eyebrows and grins.

OOC: Sorry all about the lack of posts. I've had a b!tch of a time logging onto the boards this week. Seems like every time I've had time to post, they've been down. Hopefully that situation has resolved itself.

 

[Rybaer]

Yaren nods curtly at each as you introduce yourselves.

"Truthspeaker, yes," she says. "She's been expecting adventurers to be arriving by about now." There is a hint of disdain in the way she says 'adventurers', but it quickly passes.

"I'll take you to the keep and introduce you to her," Yaren says and begins to march toward the keep at a brisk pace. She sends two of the litorians with her down the road in the direction from which you came while the other two accompany your group.

As you walk along, Yaren scrutinizes your party some more. She notes rent fabric, bite marks, and patches of dried blood. "Looks like you've seen some action recently," she says dryly. "Any encounters with rhodin? As the scout leader here, I'd be curious to hear about what all you have encountered in this region."

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"Some bandits, a group of rhodin, and a pack of devil dogs." Khajom says this quickly and tries to sound fairly casual.

 

[Rybaer]

"Some bandits, a group of rhodin, and a pack of devil dogs." Khajom says this quickly and tries to sound fairly casual.

Yaren nods.

"I think we have annoyed the bandits with our presence here," she says. "They're too few in number to challenge us directly, though they've attempted to harry my patrols on occasion.

"We've seen small packs of the devil dogs as well, though they have not troubled us."

"Now, as for the rhodin," she says, looking hard at Khajom, "I'd be most interested to hear the details of that encounter. How many in number? Where were they traveling? Did you get any information out of them or find anything unusual in their possession?"

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"Three. We, well, Pyior really, was preparing to interrogate one of them that was still alive, but that rhodin didn't, er, didn't it." Khajom shrugs, indicating his lack of responsibility or guilt.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Pyior shrugs, saying, "Yes, errmm... That was unfortunate. I did make some sketeches of their hearts if you are interested, but since none of us speak Rhodin it is unlikely we would have been able to communicate with them. Do you speak Rhodin?"

 

[Rybaer]

Yaren gives Pyior a puzzled look over his comment about the heart diagrams, but it quickly passes.

"No, I do not speak their gutter talk," she says with disdain. "Not that it would help much. We've had precious few captives to interrogate and they generally know nothing. What we do know, my scouts have had to learn by more traditional methods."

Turning back to Khajom. "You said there were three? Were they traveling...and which direction? Did you get a sense of any purpose behind their activities?"

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Pyior answers, "Yes there were three and they were travelling in the direction of the Grumblewood, about a half day from there. As far as I know we didn't ascertain any specific purpose to their activities, they simply attacked us on sight."

 

[Old Fezziwig]

"What type of specific purpose have rhodin ever had? Save to kill, loot, and raid, that is." Khajom grins at Pyior as he says this.

 

[Rybaer]

Yaren listens carefully. She licks her lips again.

"Indeed," she says. "Their purposes are generally simple and unsavory. When we took the Keep from them, a large number of them fled in various directions. I'm trying to ascertain any pattern in their movement."

She seems about to say something, but lapses into silence for a brief time.

"Perhaps we will discuss this further...later. I think you should talk with Truthspeaker first before I say any more."

"If you would, could you elaborate on your encounter with bandits? What was their strength and number? I know there is a sizable band of them in the region, though we have not yet dealt with them. As long as they're leaving us alone, we can't spare the soldiers to hunt them yet."