Turn 75 – Stel traders
The man spoke first, "Greeting and well met fellow traders; I come in peace." His eyes look upon the whole party and not a motion stirred his face, "I won't lie to you nor will I attempt to hide who I work for." He points to his richly embroidered patch and continues, "I work for House Stel and I was heading a trading expedition to the lizard's village but I have decided to turn back. My men have suffered much and have threatened to leave if I did not comply. Some men like Gor have been stricken by a strange decease in the jungle and I have appraised the trade route as being too dangerous to be worthwhile; I don't care about it anymore." The eyes of the trader fall upon the mul and smiles, "There is only one reason that I did not circumvent your party on my way back and that is to reclaim something of my own. The mul girl belongs to me; there is a brand that identifies her as such. She wondered away from camp a few days ago and no doubt was lost." The trader smiles his most toothy grin, "I thank you all for finding her and saving her from the harsh wilderness and I will pay you for her upkeeping for these past few days." The trader turns toward Rayne and states, "Come girl, it was a lucky thing I found you. You can now go back to the comfort and safety that you grew up on. Come girl, gather your stuff and let's get moving; there is lots of work to be done…"
Koreth's eyes narrowed as the haggard merchant spoke, his blue eyes turning a cold hard gray at his word. He stood up, his hands falling to his belt. <Don't stir my anger further trader, I care for you too little already....>
"That's where your wrong trader," the noble warrior spoke loudly with a firm tone to his voice, pointing a lone finger at the merchant "you can return home in peace, but SHE is no longer YOUR property."
Koreth stood, arrogant confidence and a cocky smile across his face as he waited. It seemed almost as if he wanted a fight, half-giant or no half-giant.
Aryus stood tense and anxious, realizing that a battle will soon become inevitable in this long anticipated encounter. He looked to Rayne, who stood there with her weapons drawn and ready to strike. Poor soul, what anger she must feel at this moment. Either way, Aryus was going to support her actions and avenge the injustices she has described.
As Koreth approached the trader and declared the intentions of the group. Aryus took a step forward and drew out his long bow, firmly yet silently declaring his intentions by supporting the noble warrior.
As discreetly as possible, Aryus grabs his holy symbol and prays to the winds. <If combat should occur, this could be our last hope.> He mutter the incantation to a spell and slowly raises his palm and waves it hypnotically in front of the House Stel trader's face. <It's a gamble, but it just might work.>
The mul begins to shake with a mix of fear and growing anger as the trader addresses the group.
At Koreth's words, Rayne looks about to see that her companions are willing to stand with her . . . for her. With renewed courage, Rayne approaches Koreth's side to stand before the trader. "Ye'll not be takin' me anywhere . . . <a sneer grow on her angry face> . . . or ye'll wind up like the man I left behind at the camp that night." With a look of disgust the mul spits at the man and raises her weapons defensively. As they speak, Rayne is busy in the mindscape. The ex-slave begins to focus on the metal arm band she is wearing. A strong electrical force is visibly pulled forth from the band and begins to flow around her body, providing a shield of electricity.
Elric scans the area, trying to look away from the torches so his infra-vision could take over but the warlock's range does not pierce the utter blackness around the campfire's light.
Mendi soon reached the Mul's side and put a reassuring hand on Rayne's shoulder, while his crossbow is openly directed toward 'Master'. "We will not drop you now..." whispers the Elf in the Mul's ear. Then his look falls obviously on Master, while in the Mindscape, his mind is somewhere else entirely. First of all, Mendi quickly shapes a crude mental defense, imagining a waste where his soul will be uneasy to find
Gaigin stood at ease, eyeing the Stel commander like a Tigone eyeing a fat, juicy erdlu. He could sense the pack going to combat footing, and Koreth and Rayne shouting their defiance. Easing his new battle-axe in its sling, Gaigin grinned evilly at the Stel commander.
"As ye can see, Rayne is no longer anyone's property. We are a Tyrian expedition, and Tyr does not recognize slavery, so yer claims're no good here." Gaigin paused to spit at the Urikites foot before continuing, "Every one o' us could happily slit yer throat, and don't doubt that we can, if we chose. Aside from the times in the past when Stel has cheated or harmed many o' us, meself included, there's the fact that yer house has sent assassins to stop us, and hired saboteurs to keep us from e'er getting hired. The bad blood between us runs deep as the sea o' silt, and ye'll get nothin' but a stout blade in the heart if ye trouble us further."
Resting one hand on the handle of his axe, Gaigin tensed for the battle that seemed likely to progress.
The trader frowned on all that was happening before them. He looked from Koreth to Gaigin seeming to ignore the rest of the party. He did not heed a word that Rayne had said and answered Koreth, "Now come young lad, you have the look of someone who knows what I am talking about. It is all well that Tyr is free for now but surely your father's state was built with the sweat of many slaves and I am sure you had a few of your own, did you not?" Koreth bites back his rage as he realizes that the Stel party has information about who he is and probably similar information about the rest of the companions as well.
The trader does not wait for an answer and addresses Gaigin now, "It seems you are in charge here and like I said, I come in peace. I would have thought that a practical man like you seem to be, knew better than to openly cross a major trading house, surely you don't mean to stay on this side of the mountains for ever now. But rest assured that justice will not be dealt by my hand but more likely that the prices of any goods that Stel trades in will be higher for you and your companions."
The half giant started drooling and he babbled something incoherent while his eyes darted to and fro. The trader quickly moved to his side, "Quiet now, no need to get upset." The silver tongued trader looked at the adamant group over once again and addressed Rayne one last time, "Think it over girl, nothing but death awaits you with this group, I offer you food, shelter and life, your skills were starting to show. The first time out and this is your gratitude…"
Rayne looks at him even harder if that were possible, "I've already spoken, my blade will speak next if ye didn't hear it right the first time…" Outraged the trader leaves, his eyes never leaving the group, "I shall see you all on my own turf next time."
The group watches as the two torches reach and the traders join the rest of the group. The night is quiet as the torches slowly saunter towards the north where they are lost in the darkness…
Your actions…
OUT OF CHARACTER
HEALTH STATUS
Remember the scale:
Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining
Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining
Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining
Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining
Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining
Gaigin (W),
Koreth (W),
Ayrus (SiW),
Tak (SiW), (U)
Rayne (SiW), (W)
Mendi (W)
Elric (SiW)
GENERAL
Just a short turn to wrap things up for now. Please think of the following when answering:
I will pick up the game while traveling tomorrow.
I need your input on the following: Campaign wise, I am content that you get to Lost Scale without any other encounters. If we do have any other encounters, they would be "wandering monsters" type. Do you want to skip ahead the seven days of travel and reach the village or do want me to split that up and have a couple of "happening". Any happening will be to add color to the region and won't change anything major story wise. Let me have your thoughts, please.
Questions, comments, and suggestions please.
L8r,
Fabian