Q'Barra: Facing Truth Chapter 2

[EvolutionKB]

Kaelan

Kaelan steps over to the chest, reaches in a grabs a handful of gold, slowly letting a few gold pieces fall from his fist. As they clink against the other gold pieces in the chest, Kaelan scratches his chin in thought. "We should go to the academy and check in, get our equipment identified, and find out what these maps are. I believe we've all been wondering what is so important about the lizardfolk "holy site". After we inform the academy, we should check it out..." He glances at Catherine's worried look and adds, "With diplomacy of course."

 

[BRP2]

Hmm, I vote for heading back to the academy as soon as possible. Our mission is complete after all. And..., Charles lowers his voice a bit, Well, them druids might not be too friendly to us now and the last thing we need is bringing more of those guys here. They'll follow us, because whoever sent them here in the first place probably don't know these people, but they will know who killed their men.

 

[Rolzup]

Darrick winces at Charles' words. "Good point, that. Very good point. Last thing we want is to bring any more problems down on these people's backs. And they...whoever 'they' are...will be all the more motivated to stop us, if we head back to the academy.

"But, say, does anyone recgonize the area shown on this map? I'm guessing that it's a map to the Poison Dusk tribe, yes?"

 

[Rookseye]

Sepoto nods in agreement with Catherine's words until she reaches mention of approaching the Poison Dusk honestly and openly. When she speaks these words, his face becomes grim and unsettled. The deep racial divide between the lizardfolk of Q'Barra and the chakit people is not a blatant prejudicial hatred akin to how some of the human settlers feel, but rather a racial enmity born of a struggle for survival in the emerald jungles. Regardless, he is suprised that humans such as his companions have such a peaceful philosophy, compared to many of the other humans he has known, such as the Lhazaar slavers who once captured his tribe.

"Sepoto must warn you; these are the lizardfolk lands you speak of. They do not tolerate those who would trespass on their holy sites. None, save the meekest of the Cold Sun have any love for humans or their ilk, and even less kindness they hold for the chakit. We would be wise to seek counsel on the story of this tribe before setting foot where we are not wanted. I agree with Kaelan, if we return to the Academy we may yet arm ourselves with knowledge of what we face. The truth is not yet clear."

Sepoto rereads the cryptic note.

"The scriber of this word-paper that sent the Angry Children against the village seems not to be one of their kind. It seems he offerred them payment in secrets and gold to set the villagers against the Poison Dusk. His knowledge of we companions troubles Sepoto, also.

How do we know that in going to the lizardfolk we do not serve his purpose now as the Angry Children once did?"

 

[Yeoman]

"It sounds like we are in agreement, then. If you don't mind, Mr Kassel, we should spend the night here since it is so late. Then we will leave for the academy at first light."

 

[Pebele]

John Kassel nods to Catherine. "Of course. Gilda will take care of everything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to take care of. Thank you all again." With that, Kassel follows Viktor out the door, leaving the group to take care of the chest and head to the Inn.

When the group returns to the Inn, Gilda greets them with smiles. "Your rooms are still as you left them. When you were still here at supper time, I figured you wouldn't be leaving. Let me know if you need anything else."

(Am I correct in assuming that the group will leave first thing in the morning to go back to the Academy? That seemed the general consensus. If so, I'll have another post up later this evening.)

 

[Yeoman]

"Thank you Gilda. We truly appreciate it."

Catherine waits until Gilda moves away and then looks to the rest of her team. "Let's get settled in for the night, and then head out at dawn. Best to get a head start on these things. Shall we return to the same scouting formation we had on the way here, or the triangular formation around the main column?"

I think that's correct. Hooray for a successful first mission! With no PC deaths no less.

 

[EvolutionKB]

Kaelan

"Dawn is good with me, I'll be up then anyway. I prefer triangle formation with the column. Good night everybody." Kaelan sighs and stretches before heading to bed.

Yes, good by all, we worked well together.

 

[BRP2]

[sblock]I'm totally want to buy more of those Fire-Breathing potions... but their DC is pretty low so I might "out-level" them soon. I wonder if there is a higher-level version.[/sblock]

Right then, I am fine with whatever you have planned. To bed I go. Charles does a small salute and heads upstairs.

 

[Pebele]

The night is peaceful, and when the group awakens, they find that Gilda has laid out a simple breakfast for them. "And please, take some for your journey. It's the least we can do." She smiles and continues with her morning duties.

They are able to leave the settlement with little fanfare. The villagers had their own duties to attend to, and seemed intent on getting back to their normal lives.

Following the same path that led them to the settlement, The group still hears a distinct lack of animal noises. They have grown accustomed to the quiet by now.

The five day journey back to the Academy passes uneventfully. The group is not accosted by any starving animals nor any other travelers. They still keep watch, but no one notices anything is amiss.

As they close on the final day of the journey back, they have started to hear the cacophony of animal sounds that they are used to. They stop for a short break, and to prepare themselves for their return to Academy and their meeting with Goludov.