Q'Barra: Into the Emerald Forest - Part II

[Urko]

The hermit speaks of the Three Feathers

It is difficult for Erin to tell how well her efforts at communication are working with the ragged man, as all of his responses are directed towards the tree he is standing behind. Erin must take what reassurance she can from the fact that he has neither retreated nor attacked.

Eff Flat’s surreptitious movement is unfortunately timed. He is just maneuvering to a spot where he can view the man better when Sanae emerges from the hole, brushing away fat white spiders that scurry into the underbrush. The hermit cries out a little and backs away further, to the safety of another tree. He is clutching a bundle of what appear to be sticks, or perhaps bones, wrapped in vine rope.

The strange man seems more comfortable with his new tree. He pats it affectionately. ”What think you, my friend, of this? Three armored knights and their servants, come to see the Three Feathers? Are they coming to finish them? Don’t they know the Three Feathers are gone? Went away – towards the five fingers, mayhaps. The ones that are left aren’t Three Feathers now. Something else. If the knights try to do the same to ol’Gurven, they’ll get their bones broken for the trouble.” At this point he looks directly at the party for the first time. Most of the bundle is back in his pouch, but he clutches one in both hands, as if to break it, and looks defiant. A crazy light dances in his eyes. ”Gurven will be slave to none.”

 

[doghead]

hhnn, warforged warrior

Spotting the emerging Sanae, "he has no name" steps over to the edge of the pit to give her a hand up over the edge. The Warforged is reaching forwards to help the servant of the Flame remove the spiders when the old man starts and jumps back. hhnn is surprised by the the strange man's reaction to the spiders, as the warforged warrior had got the impression that this pit belonged to the hermit. Perhaps it was Sanae that startled the old man so, the warforged concludes. Interesting.

But not as interesting as the old man's next comment. The Three Feathers have left, and those that are left are not the Three Feathers.

"So what does that make them now, those that remain?"

 

[Dayspire]

Erin watches the man intently, ignoring Matilda and Sanae as they rise from the pit.

"Gurven will be slave to none."

Erin nods at this. "Of course, Gurven. You are your own man, and we are not here to take your lands or your freedom. We want nothing from you, and we can part now without worry." Erin takes a tentative step forward. She is doing her best to appear non-threatening. "I do ask, however - for a moment of your time. We do seek the Three Feathers. They have committed crimes, and must pay for them. And yet you say that things here are not as they seem. Please help us. Explain what has happened to this tribe. We would like to help."

 

[Pebele]

Sanae brushes the remaining spiders off her body before she finally notices the strange man. While Erin and No Name are speaking, she pauses to study him and the current situation.

She does her best to appear non-threatening, keeping her hands open at her sides and not moving towards the man. When Erin and No Name have finished, she speaks up.

"Please, good sir, we honestly mean no harm to you. I serve the Silver Flame, and I would never harm one woo has done no wrong to me, nor would I allow any of my comrades to do such. We only seek to stop the attacks on the plantation down the river, any help you could give us would be much appreciated."

 

[Yeoman]

Matilda brushes off any stray spiders before turning from Sanae to Gurven, Matilda adopts a sincere tone, one that she often used to get out of trouble or explain away some fun turned awry. "Oh, no, sir! You mistake us! We are but humble servants of Kolbek, the plantation owner. We want only to put an end to the awful raids against him! We don't know our way through the jungle here, in fact we don't know much at all. You seem like such an intelligent and important man, perhaps you could see it in your heart to explain the situation here to us?"

Yeah, that should be sincere enough. Always worked before, heh.

Diplomacy Check - 11

 

[doghead]

he has no name, warforged warrior

The warforged listens to the others follow up with their questions. The soft ones, he decides, use a lot of words. Perhaps that is how its done by them. He turns to Eff Flat. She has said nothing since her question about the song. The warforged warrior suspects that his companion is more interested in the music than news of the Three Feathers. She has a passion for music. Odd, for a warforged he thinks.

But something moves inside him, as if a small empty space has opened up in among his workings. He wonders what it signifies.

He has no name turns his attention to the dog, which is, as usual, hovering around his legs. He reaches down and rubs the dogs ears in the way he has seen other soft ones do with their animals.

"We shall keep watch," he says quietly to the animal. With that he turns and strides a little way down the path. He stops while still in sight of the group and close enough to hear what goes on; perhaps about 20 feet away.

 

[Urko]

Gurven relaxes

Sorry about the delay, gang. I was out of town over the weekend (grandma's 80th birthday) and what I assume were server problems prevented me from logging into ENworld until now. Update will occur sometime in the next few hours.

edit - and here it is:

The hermit’s eyes dart suspiciously from one party member to the other. Finally he throws his head back and laughs. ”Silver Flame, eh? Never had much use for it, but, then, it never did me no harm, neither.” Gurven steps back around the tree and rubs his back against it vigorously. He slides to the ground with a sigh. ”You have no idea how itchy a squirrel skin shirt can get after a while.” He stretches comfortably and lays aside his cudgel and bundle of sticks. ”Well, since we’ve established we’re not going to kill each other and you’re not scared by the crazy old hermit act, we may’s well talk a bit.” A mischievous twinkle appears in Gurven’s eye. ”Mind you, I’ve been out here so long, it’s hard to say how much of it really is an act anymore.” He scratches his arm lazily; Dargin, Matilda, and Sanae notice the edge of a dragonmark mostly concealed by his shirt. (Knowledge Arcana check to ID – fairly high DC ‘cause you only get a glimpse of part of it.)

Gurven regards the warforged appraisingly. “Awful funny armor your quiet friends wear. But I’m starting to get the idea maybe ‘taint armor at’all. But you wanted to know about the Three Feathers. Truth be told, I don’t know too much. Near’s I can tell, somethin’ drove ‘em off their land. Never got too close, meself, but I talked to one of their scouts a few weeks back. Said some kind of bugs came out of the ridge. Took the young’uns and eggs. Said the bugs was too strong to fight. There’s other tribes round here, so I guess your boss’s land was the only place they could go. But what’s this ‘bout crimes? I’ve dealt with them a fair bit – some tradin’ here and there - always found ‘em to be good folk.”

 

[Urko]

Gurven expands on his thoughts

Gurven considers things for a moment. "'Course, sometimes desperate folks is driven to desperate acts. And in their way of thinking, a little bit o'raiding, when ye've got to t'get by, is hardly a crime 'tall. Balance o'nature and all that" He looks the party over. "You lot look ready to fight a war. Seems a bit, ah, over much for a few stolen crops."

 

[doghead]

Warforged Warrior

He has no name drifts back towards the group, drawn in by the old hermit's story. The finds himself hoping that it is true. He finds himself curious about the lizardmen. If the lore that the warforged hass heard is anything to go by, the lizardfolk have been on Khavoire longer than human have. The culture is very old. He realises that wants to meet them.

Something blooms within the hard inner workings of the warforged. A curiousity. What is it this 'life' that I have been given?'

And if the old man speaks truely, then perhaps we can join with the displaced lizardfolk to drive the invaders from their land.

A thought strikes the warforged. He speaks up.

"Old Hermit Gurven. How long ago were the eggs ang young ones taken? Would they be old enough now to be raiding?"

 

[Urko]

Answering 'he has no name'

Gurven ponders 'he has no name's' question. "Hmmm...can't have been more than a couple months ago. Eggs take three or four months to hatch and the young'uns aren't usually big enough to join raiding parties for at least two or three years. I'd guess it's the adults what've been driven off that're given you a problem."