Relic Hunters in Tekumel (IC)

[Deuce Traveler]

Po answers, "No trouble ma'am. We're just traders, and we like to sell our goods to whoever wants them. It's not like we can control what people do with the potions and concoctions we sell. And we like the Empire! The emperor is the greatest man who ever lived!" Yolkana simply snorts, but she also uses the stinky ointment.

It becomes obvious to you that you won't get much more out of Po. The young lad continues to lead you through the thick vegetation, but you eventually find yourself climbing onto a much drier set of hills which improves your progress. It is getting late in the day when you get to the very top of them, and Po guides you to a clearing where he is able to point down into a larger stretch of marsh. "Look there," Po says as he points in the direction you are traveling. Far off, you can see a large ziggurat about another day and a half's march away. "That's the temple. We are nearly there."

This is probably the best place for you to make camp before having to descend back into the marsh, unless the party wishes to push on anyway through the night. Yolkana volunteers to take the first shift, as has been her habit. Po looks nervous about sleeping while she is the only one awake, however, causing Yolkana to respond with a twisted grin while she sharpens her blade, "What's wrong boy? Afraid that you might not wake up?"

OOC: Need a watch order.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

Zephia glares at Yolkana, "Is that necessary? How about this? I'll take first watch, you can sleep and pray that one of us doesn't decide to carry your threat out on you."

Zephia pulls her own blade for emphasis.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

[section]Briony hobbled her mule for the night, then flopped down on an expanse of grass. After pulling out a blanket and bunching it for a pillow, she put another blanket over top of herself, then folder her hands behind her head. Her eyes closed. "If Zephia will take first watch, and Yolkana second, I'll take third watch. Should be rested enough by then." The fighter left her blade by her side and fell asleep.[/section]

 

[Rubberneck]

Bella is confident in Zephia's ability for overwatch but pulls her aside privately.

"I don't trust her, wake me discretely for second watch and I'll keep an eye on her. Best if she doesn't know I'm awake."

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

Bella is confident in Zephia's ability for overwatch but pulls her aside privately.

"I don't trust her, wake me discretely for second watch and I'll keep an eye on her. Best if she doesn't know I'm awake."

Zephia nods, "I don't think anyone trusts her."

 

[Rubberneck]

"Probably not."

Bella circles around and finds a comfortable place where she can watch over the group before plunking down and resting.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

When Zephia made her threat, Yolkana had touched her sword as if to draw it forth, but seeing herself outnumbered she moved her hand away and bellowed forth a bitter laugh. To contain her rage, she then kneeled on the outskirts of the camp overlooking the far off ruined temple, drew her sword and placed it on her lap, then began a long, meditative chanting prayer spoken too low for the rest of you to hear.

Zephia takes the first watch, then she quietly wakes Bella before tapping Yolkana out of her trance so that the warrior woman can take her turn. Bella watches Yolkana stalk the perimeter of the camp several times and marvels at the woman’s agility and quiet movements. Bella feels concern only twice during this shift, and both times it is due to Yolkana staring at Po’s sleeping body while fondling the pommel of her sword. Whatever the woman was considering doing, she eventually decided against it, and the period goes otherwise uneventful until Yolkana ‘wakes’ Bella for her shift.

As the morning light wakes you, and the clear day promises wonderful weather, your spirits are a bit higher than the day before. However, one new mystery is yours to ponder. Po has disappeared.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

[section]Briony woke up and stretched. She looked around, counting bodies. Then she looked to see that the mules were still around. She stood, rolled up her blankets, and stored her things in a saddle bag. Her stomach rumbled. She rummaged for something to eat, and sat down to break her fast. Chewing, she mulled what the day might bring. The ziggurat beyond the marsh beckoned. Briony looked over to see if Po still had the jar of lri goop. "Hey, Po! Where's the lri shi--. Po? Po?" Briony stood up and looked around. No Po. "Angelina. Wake up. Servant boy's gone missing." She nudged her sister.[/section]

 

[Rubberneck]

Bella shakes her head and looks to Angie like she was wounded.

"I'm sorry Angie, he must have slipped away while I wasn't looking. He is light footed that one. If I had to guess he went to the temple without us... But why?"

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Taking a closer look at where Po slept, you can see that the lad crawled slowly from his resting place and then got up and walked quickly back in the direction you came once he got a few dozen feet away. It's Elsbeth's raven, Branwyn, who provides the rest of the answer when she returns from a wide, circular scouting trip from above. She saw Po only a few hours hike away, talking to several men that had just landed on marsh boats. They were rough-looking, like the men you had recently attacked from the village, and they were the first of many marsh boats that just landed. The men were armed with swords and spears, but also carried rope and nets. After talking to Po for awhile, they began to spread out and head towards your direction. "These men are not just river pirates and bandits, but also slavers," Yolkana says with disgust. "It would seem that either they or the villagers held a grudge. There are too many for us to take on, but we can try to keep ahead of them," she adds as she fingers her blade and looks east towards the temple.