For More Than Glory

[Ezieer]

Drack does his best to help out with the camp. He's actually a bit of help keeping the fire going and muscling up a few piles of deadwood to protect the fire from the wind and limit it from view.

"So tis all nice and cozy... anyone know what we are going to do next? I gather we are supposed to free some people outa slavery like ya said. Let me know what we are up against and what I should do."

Drack doesn't interupt the stange mirror ceremony... but he can't help but ask later.. when its all done. "What is all that about?"

 

[Memnus]

"How else would I let the Resistance on the mainland know how things are?" He shrugs, as if the answer were obvious, then seeing Drack's probably still-clueless face, continues. "He was in Solinburg - Mittendien - at one of the largest Refuges in the world. The Ward of that Refuge is the one that sent me here, to find out how the slaves were faring. I gave him a message for her, to that effect."

He sits down, and ponders. "What we need to find out is in what groups they're being held. With our limited resources," he hefts the bag of holding containing the liberated kobold weapons, "we can't stage a full-scale uprising, but we've probably enough to liberate a single group. Just need to find the largest one."

"Oh, one last thing. If there is a Dreamwalker in the area after all, they'll eventually notice us and get in touch. If you think your dreams are trying to tell you something, they probably are. Pass it on to the rest of us."

 

[Ezieer]

"So that is a magic mirror dat lets you talk ta people? Pretty snazzy... never seen anything like that before." Drack looks at the mirror a bit more before continuing.

"So why do ya think that freein the biggest group would be easier? Freein the least guarded one would make more sense ta me."

 

[Memnus]

Fleck chuckles at Drack as he covers the mirror once again with cloth and wrestles it into his cart. "Nothing particularly magical about the mirror. Seeing through it is part of my Skill."

He turns back and sits down, peering again into the weapons cache. "Power in numbers. A hundred gnomes can overcome a dozen guards, or a dozen gnomes can overcome three. We can only arm so many, but even the unarmed can distract the unsuspecting." His eyes go distant for a second, but he makes no outward sign of in fact doing anything. There is suddenly a loud barking and growl by Drack's ear, out of nowhere, which is over as suddenly as it started. "See?"

 

[Ezieer]

"Hey!... Er.. Ah... I see yer one of them conjurers... ya brought a dog into thin air and then made it dissapear." Drack smiles... then checks his back again to make sure there isn't anything there.

"Well as long as we pick out a guard level we can take out ourselves I'll be fine wid it. Dependin on some downtodden prisoners too much could spell disaster."

 

[firehorse]

Valdir idly chews on a edible root while listening to the conversation from his tree perch. After a bit he chimes in, "Well Fleck, for my part, I'm not sure if Dreamwalkers can enter an elf's trance state, but I'll let you know if one does.

As far as gnomes held captive, how many do you think there are and why shouldn't we try to get them all free? I figure the more we free, the more help we'll have freeing the rest. Keep it up until the point where we're going to get caught I say. Nobody'll miss a few slavers and slave owners anyway..."

 

[Memnus]

Fleck giggles at Drack's horrible misclassification of his particular brand of magic, but doesn't correct him. "Five thousand. So you see, we need a way to start getting them out of the country, or at least an actual Hidden Refuge - and a big one, at that - before we can ... oh."

He suddenly looks up, looking startled. "We do know there are extensive cave systems to the southeast ... there may be others. They can't all be taken by kobolds, can they?"

 

[Ezieer]

Drack scratches his head a bit and then appears to clear a thought away. "Well... so besides barkin dogs and us bum rushin the guards.. do we have other strategies? I wonder if there are any other people around here that dislike the slavers... and would be willin to help us out. Might be worthwile to see if any such be about."

 

[firehorse]

Valdir gives a low whistle when he hears the amount of gnomes they are talking about.

"The caves are a good idea Fleck. Even if there are still kobolds in the caves, we can help clean them out. Although, if people still think they are kobold-ridden there will be less of a chance people will be looking for gnomes there. Don't forget that disgruntled cleric you let go though... I doubt it will become a permanent community for them, but it can definitely be used as a hidden and defensible refuge until they can be smuggled out back to their homelands."

 

[Memnus]

Fleck grunts at Valdir's choice of words. "Even five thousand, fully armed and drilled into an army, couldn't take back our homeland."

"As for finding sympathizers ... it's a good idea, but I don't know how to start going about it. Obviously there can't be that many, or there'd at least be a small population of freedmen. We should ask around, not only among the laborers, but among the ... merchants..." He trails off, looking at the group, then sighing. He is, unfortunately, the group's best link into the mercantile community. "Looks like I'll be setting up shop, then. 'Spingear Spindlefingers, alchemist, fine and fanciful wares.' And my trusty bodyguards, who will ever so cheerfully have a few innocent questions for customers?"