NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deuce Traveler" data-source="post: 6569597" data-attributes="member: 34958">Your guide, Yolkana, answers Zephia as she helps slit the throats of some of the unconscious lri, "These lri were young an inexperienced.  The largest lri I have seen were twice their size, and so I agree that we should move quickly."  She bends down towards the dead noble in the carriage and whispers apologies for not being able to bury her due to the importance of her mission, and promises to ensure a proper burial when her task is complete.  So saying, she reaches into the robes of the corpse and pulls out a seal that gives the dead woman's name and permission to travel the region.  With that, Yolkana will later be able to track down the family and explain the poor woman's ultimate fate.From there the group of you continue east uneventfully, the only further problem coming from camp discussions of who should clean up after cooking dinner and the watch schedule during the nights.  Eventually you reach the village of Akajhun.  Several yurts and grass huts stand on dry land near a reed-covered stream.  The ground around this location is soft and quite marsh-like, while the villagers themselves mostly wear loin clothes and are usually shirtless.  From the looks of things they are all quite poor.  Some playing children see you as you struggle to find dryer patches of earth to traverse the final distance between the marsh and the firm ground of the village, with your mules trudging stubbornly along.Two middle-aged men approach you, both wearing loose tunics and jewelry in decent enough conditions that you can guess they have the wealth and power to claim to be in charge.  The older of the two has slightly more shell necklaces than the latter and is in the lead, so you suppose he is slightly higher in rank, but you can be completely sure of nothing at this point.Yukana reminds you of a few facts.  "Remember, I am only here as a hired guide.  Say nothing of my status or my purpose.  I do not know the name of the leader here, only that he will be the head of the Black Earth Clan that lives in this village.  You are here on behalf of the Grey Wand Clan, and they by order of the ruler of Jakalla, to investigate the temple found in the nearby swamps and you require whatever help the clan can provide.  Be polite and show your seal.  Admit to nothing else.  You think one of you foreigners can muster enough dignity to meet him halfway instead of all of us standing in an awkward circle and waiting for him to control the conversation?"  She asks the last with contempt, obviously impressed only with the display of your recent battle prowess and not with the subtelties of local politics.</blockquote>

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