Jonah,
You and the captain are still stalling for time when the splash of oars is audible once more; the longboat rounds the bend and glides toward the shore. An elf, dressed like the others in furs and leather stands at the prow of the boat. Unlike the other elves, this one wears a gold torc around his neck; he seems to be a chieftain of some sort.
The Grugach don't know what to make of this; half raise their bows, while the other half looks at Mind-of-the-Mighty-River for direction. Mind---- stands stiffly, apparently ill at ease.
"Brethren!" he calls, raising both arms in a placating gesture. "Lower you weapons! I have promised these Men of the Sea safe passage in our lands."
There is an angry murmuring among the elves at hearing this. Mind---- speaks up at last:
"Promises extorted by violence are worthless. Shall we dispose of these clam-diggers, O Heart-of-Ten-Thousand-Oaks, Light of our Brethren?"
"You shall not," replies Heart-of-Ten-Thousand-Oaks. "These are not clam diggers; they are men who follow the sea. They are led by an orcish freed-man, and they have parlayed with me honestly. It is my judgement that they be allowed safe passage. They have no part in our quarrel with the clamdiggers."
The Captain turns to you.
"Jonah," he says in an undertone. "It 'pears Calypso's been smilin' on us again."
(OOC: Yes, the -1 penalty still applies as of now.)
Nicodemus,
The boat glides in towards shore, grounding with a squelch in the muddy bottom a few feet from the shore. Before the Grugach on the shore can react, the chieftain waves his arms in a placating gesture.
Brethren!" he calls, raising both arms in a placating gesture. "Lower you weapons! I have promised these Men of the Sea safe passage in our lands."
There is an angry murmuring among the elves at hearing this. One of the Grugach, a lieutenant of some sort, speaks up at last:
"Promises extorted by violence are worthless. Shall we dispose of these clam-diggers, O Heart-of-Ten-Thousand-Oaks, Light of our Brethren?"
"You shall not," replies Heart-of-Ten-Thousand-Oaks. "These are not clam diggers; they are men who follow the sea. They are led by an orcish freed-man, and they have parlayed with me honestly. It is my judgement that they be allowed safe passage. They have no part in our quarrel with the clamdiggers."
Malthas, Malachi, Vemuz,
The longboat grounds to a slow halt in the muddy bottom a few feet from the shore. The chieftain is standing proudly in the bows; the Grugach on shore do not seem to know what to make of this; some raise their bows, others look to one of their fellows for guidance.
Heart---- waves his arms in a placating gesture and addresses the Grugach on the river bank, six of them that you can see. He makes a short speech in Elven, which seems to upset some of the Grugach; there is angry muttering among the shore crowd. One of the elves on the shore, apparently a lieutenant or spokeself of some kind, speaks up. Though you cannot understand his words, his tone appears to bear some malice toward you. The elf chieftain replies in a stern tone.
Mr. Arfaliunium seems to understand what the elves are saying, however.
The Captain and Jonah are standing to one side of the crowd of Grugach, trying to look inconspicuous. Both appear considerably the worse for wear.
(OOC All: Due to the situation, once you post your actions/dialogue, they will occur in order of intiative [so if Malachi posts dialogue before Nicodemus, for example, Nicodemus will speak first in the DM Post]. So basically, I'm not using initiative & the combat round system for combat as of right now, I'm just using it to see who gets the first word in, so to speak.)
