Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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ian_scho
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

OOC - Religion Check (1d20+1=3)

Thiy was lying on her back who then looked up at the pig and then to Ktch'klik. "Help? Oh yes of course." She got up and then pretended to perform some ministrations over what she thought was a soon to be corpse. More wailing and the biting of Thraxxiss 's fingers ensued. "Erm... This is a tough customer." She had no idea what to do. No... Wait... There was one thing that rolling a 2 will afford you. "I learnt this technique from our Abbot."

She then punched Sssaar in the temple. Hard.

"He was a great guy. Resolved many theological problems that came his way, albeit somewhat brutally."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes did his best to ensure the strange mirror would not escape his grasp. He gripped as tightly as he could with both hands, worried about what it would do if let loose. Look for a new host? That couldn't be allowed.

"What the hell is this thing!" he shouted angrily at the group in general. Thiy's knowledge in the area seemed limited, judging by her course of action: punching the lizar in the face.

"I tried that already, sister" he snarled through gritted teeth. "It doesn't work. Anyone else have any ideas" he added, looking around at Thraxxiss in particular, "or should I just hold on while you all have a conference?"

As he was gripping on he tried to rub the mirror on the ground, in an effort to remove the gore. "There is some reflection here I don't recognise.This doesn't look like an ordinary mirror" he continued, stating the blindingly obvious.

Thinking quickly, he came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to lock it in a solid container. "Anyone have a strong chest we could store it in?" He considered making a joke about Sssar's chest not having been able to hold it, but decided against it. No need to introduce ambiguity.

In case I need a d20 I rolled one, it was 6.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

OOC - I'm an idiot - was concentrating on the wrong subject and was trying to help Sssaar instead of Artaxes. Try again! Religion Check (1d20+1=14)

It was then Thiy realised Artaxes predicament. "Help? Oh yes of course." she repeated with her knuckles swelling. "Hmm, definitely of Chaos construction." she mused. She took a closer look and tried to think if she had seen anything like this before. "We could make a wooden hexagon frame and tie each limb to the corner?" she suggested, although sealing it in a chest was a superb idea. "...Or. We could break it's fricking legs off."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy walks up and punches Sssaar right in the face, but the tortured lizar doesn't even stop his screaming for a brief second. The monk finds the blankness in the lizar's eye unnerving. It is as if she is staring in the eyes of the corpse. It seems everyone is frozen, paralyzed by the horrific screams still leaking out even though Kassah has her hands firmly gripping Sssar's snout. But tas her fist smashes into the lizar's face, a memory flashes unbidden into her mind.
Spoiler
A naked man is tied spread eagled upon a mirror, looking terrified. The prests are working on a new ritual, something that came to someone in a far away land. A vision sent directly from The Disbalanced One himself. It is said the recipent of the vision went mad as the energy consumed him, and after relaying what the Lord of True Freedom told him, literally tore himself apart with his bare hands while screaming praises to Chaos. His name is exalted as a martyr, and Thiy is forced to chant all 888 words he screamed as he died over and over with the other initiates ringing the sacrifical altar. The 3 High Priests step forward, the illusory flames crackling off their black robes and horned helms in emulation of their LOrd. They sprinkle sacred unholy powders and other substances on the man and altar-mirror and carve runic symbols into his flesh with an obsidian bladed knife enchated with flame. At the crecendo of the ritual, they slice the man's hands and feet. NOt enough so he dies, but enough that his blood contacts the altar and pools in the grooves around the scared mirror. The man screams as his form wavers, becoming strangely flatened and translucent. THis was something new, something Thoy had never seen ever in her time with the monks. But something goes wrong, and although Thiy doesnt know what was supposed to happen, judging by the gooey boneless mass that was once the sacrrifice now dripping off the side of the altar to land with small *plop*s of gore on the marble floor, and the angry looks on the exhausted High Priests faces, it wasnt supposed to work that way. There would definately be much "cleansing of the initiate's spirits" tonight. Thiy hoped it wouldnt be with the cat o nine tails, but merely the leather bullwhip.
Artaxes wrestles with the strangely strong mirror thing. Even gripping it with both hands, it appears to be trying to wrench itself out of the mercenary's hands. The slick surface is hard to hold onto with the thing clacking its legs against its body loudly and trying to escape, but Artaxes manages to wipe the back on the ground. For a brief second the thing almost slips out of his grasp, but he manges to hang on. He is fortunate it isnt much bigger than his palm, because he has afeeling it would be very hard to hold on to if it was.

Peering into the back, he sees that the face looking out at him is of a terrified-looking Sssaar, frozen in a moment of extreme fear and pain. The image is oddly not like Sssaar though. Its scales are redder, with patches of dark crimson skin showing and what appear to be two tiny nubby white horns are sprouting from the image's head. As Artaxes watches, the image opens its mouth and appears to scream.

Thraxxiss hears the mercenary's annoyed yell for help and rushes over, leaving Kassah to deal with Sssaar alone. The snake man peers at the strange object with a look of vexation. "What in SAR is it? In all my years, all my studies, I have never encountered anything like this." he says as he glances at the object while muttering a mystical incantation and putting his fingers in runic patterns.

Nothing seems to change, but the serpent nods his head on his long neck and hmms to himself for a few seconds. "Well, my spell has showed me it is highly magical. It would take much mana to craft such a thing. I do not believe it is alive, but more of a construct. It will take more study, however."

At the idea of putting it in a chest, the mage nods. "Yes, it must be taken to the Runescholar's Circle with all haste. Ktch'klik, in my supplies I have with me my travelling herb-chest. It it treated with ressk oil and quite sturdy, small enough to carry, but large enough that it could hold this thing. Also, wake Riik¡'chk. He might be able to find some way to ease the pain of Ssssaar."

The arachne nods and goes off to fetch the chest and whoever Riik¡'chk is.

At Thiy's suggestion to break it, Thraxxiss shakes his head. "No friend monk. I fear that somehow this thing is tied to Sssaar's life mana. If it was broken or damaged, it most likely would cause him harm. And if his lifemana flees through the Door of DES, it would be impossible to find out how this happened." The snake-mage sighs heavily. "As much as I hate to say it, Sssaar is looking more and more like an innocent victim, a prisoner of the Chaos-worshipper's evil mana. I wonder about the other, though. Are they the same? And what is the purpose of the mirror?"


Ktch'klik returns holding a small lustrous darkwod chest and leading the green-shelled mantis-man the two humans saw earlier. Without saying a word, the mantis immediately unknots the cord holding his silk robe closed and shows his chitin-plated chest. There are no markings on it whatsoever, although it is strange to the humans, having never seen such a thing. The mantis-man is odd. He has two long arms, each splitting into a 3 fingered hand. Each finger is very long and articulated, ending in a curving claw. He is bipedal and has a more humanoid form that Ktch'klik, although the humans can see that he has very long feet and walks on his toes 9Meaning it looks like he has "backwards knees", although I always hated it when people refer to it as that. His knee is farther up and in a normal place). Green chitin plates cover his body, and he has long articulated antennae that twist in the human's direction as he focuses his large yellow bulbous eyes on the two.

Basically, he looks like Mantia from CSB. Hes basically a humanoid shaped praying mantis. I was gonna make him more thri-kreen, or just have the race *be* thri-kreen, but looking at the picture of Mantia, they very obviously had a humanoid form. So I decided to make them something else. Although when Kassah was reading the document and said "He joined the caravan at T'kir'taap's yard..." T'kir'taap was the name of a thri-kreen I played in a Dark Sun (my favorite D&D world to this day, minus the psionics) years ago. JUst a side note :D

"Thraxxiss has apprised me of the situation." the mantisman states as he shrugs back into his robes. The translation spell makes him sound very intelligent but a bit dry, as if he spends all of his time with his antennae buried in a dusty tome. Without wasting anymore time talking, he immediately goes over to Sssaar, the lizar by now having screamed himself raw, although that isnt stopping him from trying to scream with every breath, and looks him over. He brusquely touches Sssaar on the forehead, his long fingers crooked in a runic pattern, and whispers runes of power. The lizar immediately falls into a deep sleep, and Kassah sighs gratefully.

"Thank you." she tells Riik¡'chk. "It was painful to listen to those tortured shrieks.

The mantis nods. "It appears that the camp was not alerted. You chose this place well. Although the RA orb will awaken soon." he states in response. He walks over to Artaxes and peers at the still-clacking thing in the mercenary's hand. "Strange. Never have I seen such a thing, nor is it in the Annals of Keltokh. It must be studied."

Thraxxiss takes the box from Ktch'klik and holds it out to Artaxes so he can drop the thing inside and Thraxxiss can slam the lid shut. The humans notice with appreciation that the box has a sturdy hasp and lock, and the hinges look well made.

"Alright, we need to time this just right. When I count to three, drop it in there." Thraxxis tells the mercenary. Make a reflex, OB

Seeing everyone is caught up in the box, Ktch'klik steps over to Thiy, sending the pig *squee*ing away from the monk as the spider draws cose. "Do not mind Riik¡'chk. HE doesnt mean to be rude, that is the way of his Kind. His people are focused hunters, and it is their way to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. Now, I agree with you. This traitor must be caught."

Kassah sees them talking and steps over, now that Sssaar is sleeping peacefully. "What are you two talking about?" she asks curiously.

Ktch'klik fills her in and she nods. "As much as I hate to cause conflict that could hurt the caravan, it is far more dangerous to allow the traitor to work unhindered. So, I allow it. Howver, like I said, I am far out of my depth here. I hav no idea how to go about catching the one responsible. SAR, it could even be a drver, or a guard. And what if they dont have the SAR mark, what then?"

Sorry for the long post and delay. Really busy at work. So, its up to you guys what to do here. Although if Thraxxiss and Artaxes flub their REF saves, you might just be casing a mirror-thing all over the place, I dunno ;)
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

"It does seem linked to the traitor" Artaxes agreed "I can see his reflection somehow in the mirror."

He listened to Thraxxiss's description of the item, and his theory as to the hold it had over Sssaar. "I don't know" he grunted. "Maybe he is an innocent victim. Or maybe he thought joining Chaos was an easy route to power, but ended up out of his depth. If so he deserves everything he got."

He held tightly to the object until the chest was by his side. He made eye-contact with the snake man and nodded. "Okay, lets not screw this up. It seems important." He counted to three together with Thraxxiss, and when finished he half-dropped, half-threw the item into the chest.

So reflex roll was 13 + 3 = 16.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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The mirror-thing flies into the box, and Thraxxiss quickly slams the lid shut, bringing the piece of the hasp attached to the lid through its securing loop and clamping a well-made looking lock through the loop. Thumps come out of the box, and it shakes in the snake man's hands as the thing within mindlessly slams itself into the walls of the chest seeking a way out.

The snake man hisses at a breath and says "Good job. I'm glad we contained it."

The thing safely contained, he reflects on Artaxes explanation and what the mercenary saw reflected within the thing. "Hmm. Interesting. It is known that during the first Rise of Chaos, the evil High Lord managed to trap some heroes sent to Mount Anaias in mirrors. But I have never heard of anyone but the Lord Chaos himself being able to do that. I agree though, that if Sssaar willingly allowed this to happen, he must face justice. I just wish we could get him to tell us who the other traitor was. What worries me, it could be anyone but those who are here. And what if they dont have the SAR rune? Then what?"

More updates when Ian posts
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy nodded at Ktch'klik but was really concentrated on the animated mirror. It consumed her thoughts for a few moments, as perhaps it was more familiar than she realised. "I once shared some time in a place full of many different races and peoples. At first I was insulted or surprised by the actions of others only to later learn that it was my own limitations that caused these feelings." She smiles back to Ktch'klik, making the up-most not to show her teeth.

Artaxes starts counting, and Thiy starts moving in the opposite direction. The thing would most likely strike for one of those two but it was best if she was as far away as possible so as to... Aid others should one come to harm. She could have a practice with the knife herself she mused.

OOC - Ups, double post! Will continue :)

She returns to the circle of conversation, feeling less afraid than her pig now. "Good work. Finding the traitor should be our next priority." She presumed that in some of their minds she is a traitor as well. "The lack of a SAR rune is not a problem if we can force the hand of the individual. We have Sssaar and we have the artefact. They may be of value to the legions of chaos." And with that she spits to the ground. "We could use them as bait, but risk losing all."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Ktch'klik spreads his fanged mandibles wide, as if he is trying to mimic the human smile. It gives Thiy a good view of his tiny round lipless mouth, the tip of the black proboscis she assumes he "drinks" his prey with showing between the small ridged teeth ringing the opening.

"But...Could it not be that the actions of others surprised and insulted you, only for you to become inured to them later? Was it truly your own limitations, or someone telling you it was your own limitations?" the arachne replies. He looks around to make sure everyone is engrossed in the mirror-thing and box, then steps closer to the monk.
"I heard what Sssaar said to you, about the mark you carry on you. And now I understand what I have seen in my ch¿a'kil" he says, as he motions to the very small black eye-like spot set above the other four. "It is a gift of my people, because we are the children of Lord Arach¿sa, that we have the sight of the Life Tapestry. Know that I do not judge you, for although you carry your past with you, it is not the whole of your being." He clacks his mandibles and then spreads them wide again, as if to "smile" at the monk.

Now that the mirror thing has been shut away, everyone gathers around to speak of plans. Thiy speaks first, and Kassah chews a finger-claw as she think son the monk's words. "You have a good point. If they had any way to know Sssaaar was exposed, they might try and get him back, to keep the knowledge of this weapon from falling into our hands. I just wish we knew if the traitor was another like Sssaar, obviously driven mad by the forces of Disbalance. Or if they were whole in mind and acting of theor own free will.. As pathfinder, the safety of the caravan is of ultimate importance to me. I am loathe to risk an attack, to try and silence us. I am not ashamed to admit I am way out of my depth here. There had been warnings of the forces of Chaos getting stronger, but nothing like this!"

"The way I see it, we have two options at this point. We could either seperate Sssaar, say he got sick or something, and just wait for the traitor to make a move. Or we could round everyone up and actively try to find out who they are. The camp hasn't ben alerted yet, but look, Zosar has disappeared behind the horizon. The RA orb will begin its journey soon. There is no way we are going to keep this hidden for long." says Thraxxiss.

Ktch'klik says "As mercenaries, you must have a way of dealing with enemy spies?"

Artaxes remembers the briefing given about traitors. If someone beneathl was suspected, it was best to alert a superior officer and continue to monitor their actions, feeding them false information if at all possible. A scout would be drafted to track their movements, and note anyone they met with covertly or if they tried to leave the camp. However, if the tritor was in a position to do severe damge, such as a high level officer privy to tactics and troop movement, they were to be eliminated before they could do any harm to battle plans. Perhaps if the traitor who sold the information to the Chaos-worshipers had been caught in time, he and Thiy would not be sitting in this High Lord forsaken bug-ridden swamp right now!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes listened to the arguments against an immediate search of the caravan, and had to admit that they had a point. If the traitor was not branded - and so would not be easily identified - then a search would just tip them off without any benefit. Then again, there was no guarantee the planned trap would work, and they could not afford to have an unidentified traitor in their midst for another night.

He sighed in frustration as he thought things over in silence, scratching his chin and jaw while muttering to himself and occasionally shaking his head.

"How about this" he said finally. "We spread a story that Sssaar has fallen ill, and is being examined by someone with medical training. He is being isolated from the rest of the caravan, and no one is to approach him until we know what has happened. If the traitor hears this he - or she - might fancy their chances to kill Sssaar before he can give away any information. Especially if it seems there is only one other person with him. We wait nearby, out of sight, and if anyone approaches...well let's just say they better have a good explanation."

"It puts someone in danger, anyone feel like volunteering for the role of the examiner?" his eyes scanned the assembled crowd. "It puts Sssaar in danger too, but I think we can live with that."

"We use this to explain why the caravan is not moving. If, after a long enough time, no one makes a move, then we do a search of everyone, every tent and every pouch."

He scowled, glancing from person to person. "And remember, if the second traitor is not marked we are all suspects again. It could be anyone."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Kassah taps a claw against her teeth as she thinks. "A good plan. Although a caravan wouldnt normally stop for one sick passenger, if the illness was sufficently contagious and deadly, that would be a vaild reason to keep him isolated and the caravan stopped. After all, we wouldnt want to carry a deadly sickness into Makan. And also keep curious eyes away, as no one would want to approach someone carrying a potentially dangerous illness. That way, if someone does approach, they will be suspect." she replies.

"Personally, I am not worried about making it to Makan on time. This is far more important, as I would not want to give the traitor free reign in the city, especially not with the once-a-cycle Runescholar's circle meeting in 10 suns time. I will send a couple of my most trusted guards as outriders to let Hassta, the Makan yard-master, to know what has befallen us." she continues, pacing back and forth as she thinks out her plan.

"What bout you, friend monk. Do you have anything to add?" she asks Thiy.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy bows to Ktch'klik, she appreciates it's observations, it's lack of his judgement over her.

"It is a good plan." Thiy concurs to the others. "My only other suggestion is that you could still keep moving by isolating Sssaar in a wagon with just one wagon handler and move the passengers to the others." She thought remorsefully about the lost food in the wagons due to the rats. She was feeling hungry already. "I'd be happy to drive if you showed me." she happily added. "Sssaar's current state does not scare me and I would happily ride with him. That artefact does concern me, however."

"I understand that our priorities have changed, though. We do not need to rush towards your final destination..." She thought that they could isolate Sssaar by pinning each limb to the ground with rope and pegs as if he were to be sacrificed. It would be for his own good. "Tie him to the side of a wagon and cover him from prying eyes for the day. It may be tempting enough for the traitor."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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A loud growl comes from Kassah's stomach as she thinks on the monks words. She flares her nostrils as she hisses an apologetic laugh. "Yes, that does bring up the other issue. I have guards cleaning out the food-wagons as we speak and seperating what is salvagable. Due to your quick action of throwing the disk that caused the rats to appear, the majority of the food in that wagon appeared undamaged. But unfortunatetly, the sacks of rations in the other wagon are a complete loss. And even most of the crates looked to be eaten through by that black goop. I will know for sure when the guards give me their report." She pulls the reed-paper that apparently is some kind of list of passengers and supplies out of a belt-pouch and looks it over.

"Before the rats, we had enough food to feed everyone for 7 suns, including the emergency rations. If we leave when the RA orb awakes, we could make Makan in 2 1/2 suns traveling from awakening to RA-sleep. I have no idea how much of what was destroyed is salvageable. We may have to hunt and forage and even then it would be hard to feed a passenger caravan of this size strictly on gathering from the swamp. But in any case, we appear to be in agreement that seperating Sssaar is best, for now. Once the food-wagons are cleaned out, we could lay him in one, keeping him silent with magical sleep if needed. I'll call everyone together at awakening and announce that he has taken sick with..." She again starts to pace as she thinks.

"With blackscale wasting. That should be severe and contagious enough to keep the merely curious away." She nods to Thiy when the monk offers to drive. "It could also explain why we are having you humans drive, as blackscale wasting only affects beings with scales or chitin."

The others in the group murmur agreement and Ktch'klik holds up a claw.

"Remember, trust no one besides those in this immediate group. For my part, I have known Thraxxiss for many cycles and vouch him to be trustworthy. And I have seen images of the humans in my ch¿a'kil. They carry a powerful thread, but not one of wrongness. "

Thraxxis waves his sinuous neck back and forth as he speaks. "Thank you, old friend. I vouch for Riik¡'chk. We have been colleagues for seven cycles. The kind of magic we have practiced together does not allow for secrets. And also, I vouch for Kassah. She is respected for her fairness and duty to her caravan in many city-states of Zaangaard."

Kassah, for her part says "I vouch for the two guards I brought with me during the rat attack that are now cleaning the wagons, Hssilaa and Kassil. They have served me well for many cycles, and I trust them with my life." She gestures to the two guards standing nearby. "As well as Naath and Lisss. They are siblings, the children of a swamp lizar and a Makan. Their father fled the swamps as a kakkiss with only his older brother after his entire tribe was destroyed by a band of da'lassk sssh'iir, Chaos-worshipping swamp lizar. They would sooner die than serve the Disbalanced One and have also been on many runs with the the past 3 cycles."

The guards, which have been standing with their back to the group alertly watching for anyone approaching, turn around at Kassah's words. "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Ma'am", the broader one says as he salutes with his fist over his heart, before resuming his watch. The skinnier one just nods thankfully and salutes before turning back around.

Kassah salutes the two back. "But no one else is to be trusted, not the other passengers or even the guards. The other four guards were picked up at the hiring fair at T'kir'taap's yard for this run. I have never worked with them before, although they came with letters of character. But those may be forged, if one has access to a merchant or noble's claypress seal."

Kassah turns to the two humans. "You can also sleep if it is needed. But would you be willing to help Ktch'klik and I take Sssaar over to the food wagons? Naath and Liss are going on camp-watch, and I'd feel better if we had more guards transporting him over there. The traitor might already be alerted. After all, the rat attack wasn't exactly subtle since you caught it. I shudder to think what would have happened if Sssaar had managed to complete his mission and gotten away."

Ok, so if you guys help, can I have a spot check? You dont have to, so you could decide to go crash. Or even move your stuff over by the wagon, its up to you
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"And I can vouch for Sister Thiy" Artaxes added abruptly and, perhaps, surprisingly. In truth he knew little to nothing about the nun, but he was not happy at the preponderance of non-humans involved in this hunt. Thiy may be an unknown quantity but she was at least the same race.

Still he had to admire Kassah's demeanour at this time. Out of her depth? Perhaps. A lizar? Most certainly. But still showing a high degree of competence. He listened to her appraisal of the situation silently, and nodded at the mention of blackscale wasting, giving a vaguely positive grunt in response.

"Yes" he responded to her request for help. "I don't want to let this thing out of my sight. Not while the traitor wants him as much as we do."

"Maybe we separate him for a while before we move. A few hours delay will not affect our food supplies too much. If nothing happens, then we move."

He stopped for a moment, scratching his chin again in thought. "Just one thing I don't get. Why attack this caravan? A bunch of traders and guards. Unless they were after the spell-casters, on their way to the rune-scholars meeting?" Looking over at Thraxxiss and Ktch'klik he spoke louder. "What do you think? You guys important enough for them to attack?"
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thraxxiss thinks on the mercenary's words, weaving his neck slightly back and forth as his alien eyes grow lost in thought.

"You make a good point. I am not going to stroke my ego and say that Riik¡'chk and I are important enough that the two of us on the same caravan are the cause of this. But all of us are, the Circle as a whole. In fact, that is why we all travel quietly on simple passenger caravans and not in a large group or with luxury, as a way to keep us scattered and low-key. There has been signs lately that the Sundering of the Guardian of the Mountain and the Fusing that stopped it was not the end of the struggle. All was quiet for sometime, but the Watchers have seen troubling images. That is the main focus of this Circle, these troubling signs. And what we just saw here, and also what you saw when your group was ambushe..." He stops for a second as if something just occurred to him.

"By Sssha! What if it isn't us. What if its you two? What if Sssaar was just a kind of sleeper agent, heading to Makan for a reason most likely related to the coming Circle, and received orders on the way about the ambush and that you two would most likely intersect with us? It might not be true, it might just be random acts of terror designed to destablize and weaken Makan. But still, it bears thinking about" he says, his cobra-hood flaring out slightly in agitation.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

"Us?" he guffawed. "Not likely. I don't know about the good sister here, but I doubt I register high on Chaos's plans. When I am not working as a sell-sword I am a farmer."

But could the two attacks be a coincidence? He glanced over at Thiy, frowning slightly. "So how about it, sister. You think you are special enough for this treatment?"
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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OOC - Spot check (1d20-1=8)

Thiy was more than willing to help with Sssaar, especially if it involved tying him up really tightly. These people are going to provide food and transport to some kind of civilization, she should assume a few duties at least. She presumed that they will want her to punch someone in the face on the way, but hey - it will fill her stomach in doing so.

"Us?" she repeated with surprise. "Artaxes is right. He really is a lowly farmer fallen on hard times." she added helpfully, yet it was not exactly the most positive way to appraise the hired soldier. "As for me... I am a lowly nun with no political ambitions and few worldly possessions. Feel free to search by back-pack. My most expensive possession consists of a pig..." The pig. They wouldn't want the pig back would they? She cast the thought out of her mind as being downright ridiculous. She should sell it in the next market she encounters, assuming these lizar things actually eat pork.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Oddly enough, the pig *squee*s loudly when Thiy thinks about selling it and quickly runs away from her, as if it could hear her thoughts. Either that or it just smelled something interesting, it was impossible to tell with the tsupid creature.

Thraxxiss stares long and hard at the monk as she speaks, his gold eyes boring into herl. Then he shakes himself for a second and shrugs "Really, who knows why this caravan was targeted. They might be targeting everyone who could potentially have a runescholar on board, or for no reason beyond to terrorise the region and destabalize trade. During the last Rise of Chaos, runescholars were targeted in their homes, their families slaughtered, as we have traditionally stood for Balance in all mana and against Chaos and Order. If Chaos is indeed looking for a way to break his prison and split the Guardian, I wouldn't be surprised if his minions were targeting all large groups that hold Balance sacred. And you two do have knowledge that as far as I am aware no one else does, the use of the SAR runes to increase vitality and not be affected by mortal wounds."

Kassah looks up at the sky, then frowns "We can talk later about the cause. The RA orb awakens very soon, let us get Sssaar to the wagon before the camp and potentially the traitor awake." she states. Indeed, the sky has started to take on the dark blue and purple tinge of the earliest dawn.

The pathfinder looks around. "I think it would be best if the humans carry Sssaar to the wagon now that it is this late. Others might be up, and it would ruin our claims that he has blackscale wasting if one of us was seen carrying him. THen you can rest. We will keep a discrete watch while you two sleep. If you want to move your bedding by the wagon, I'm sure we could set up an awning to cover you while you rest. But, if you want to stay where you are that is fine too."

Thraxxiss yawns, his tiny fangs flipping down as his mouth stretches impossibly wide. "I, too, need rest. I will retire now. Call me if I am needed." With that, the runescholar turns and walks out of the clearing, followed by Riik¡'chk, who just bows deeply and leaves.

That leaves just the humans, Kassah, Ktch'klik and the two guards by the tree where Sssaar rests in a magically induced slumber, his chest with a gaping hole.

Kassah says "If there is no further questions, we will escort you over there to the food wagons. I need to speak to Hssilaa and Kassil as well as make sure they arent bearing a SAR rune."

K, so I'm gonna move the plot along on MOn, unless you guys have any further things youd like to add/do.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy was more than happy to look after Sssaar, and indicated to Artaxes that they should take it in turns to keep an eye on him. Rather than sleep with Artaxes under any awning she elected to sleep under or inside the wagon, whatever was least moist and squidgy. These lizar were more than capable of throwing off the water from their skins but she was starting to suffer somewhat from the continual effects of the swamp. It would be a good idea to get some sleep now, as when Sssaar wakes up he won't fall back to sleep again for a good many hours as she could only guess as to what he had been through.

She would tie the pig off on a long leash around the wagon too. Maybe he could act as a guard-pig? Or at least get eaten first by some crazed-famished chaos worshippers.
Last edited by ian_scho on Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"We should sleep first." she suggests to Artaxes, "but after that one of us must always be concentrated on the traitor."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"Yes, you should sleep while we get the chance. As for me, I will keep an eye on him for a while. I am well used to little rest. Being a lowly farmer does that to you" he finished through gritted teeth, glaring at Thiy.

So Artaxes will let Thiy sleep for awhile, then wake her up to switch around, just so someone is always close to the traitor. Forgot spot check: it was 16 - 1 = 15.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"I was merely trying to divert unnecessary attention to you." Thiy replied, completely self satisfied that she had: insulted a male, justifiably, and gotten away with it. It was one of those win-lose situations with men that rarely present themselves to her.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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The bigger of the two guards, Naath, goes and gets a sheet of thick reed-canvas and two humans wrap Sssaar in it so that just his head is showing and carry him over to the wagon area, Thiy with his feet and Artaxes with his head. Ktch'klik and the three lizars surround the two in a diamond formation, keeping any potemtial prying eyes from getting too close. Fortunately, the camp is still quiet, only the drover is up and checking on his charges near the wagons. He gets a look of concern on his reptillian face when he sees Sssar out cold and bundled up in a sheet of canvas. Kassah goes over and speaks to him in a low voice, and the look of concern turns to one of fear. He makes a symbol with his hands in the middle of his forehead and then makes a flicking motion with his claws in the direction of the group, obviously some folk-charm against sickness.

The other two guards have been busy cleaning out the food wagons. Some thick wooden crates and canvas sacks are placed far away from the wagons, stacked neatly in a pile. One of the guards is carefully scrubbing black goop off of the wood with a rough sponge, the other using a boar bristle brush and cleaning powder to scrub out the inside of the wagon the giant rat was in.Both guards are wearing heavy leather gloves and aprons and have strips of cloth tied around their snouts. The humans realize why as they get nearer and smell a horrid stench of rotting vegetables and carrion.

In the firepit there is canvas sacks, burst and stained black, as if the items inside rotted in minutes. A gooey blackish mass of what might have been grain at one time is falling out of the burst seams to puddle in the pit. Mixed in with that is some diseased looking rotten lumps of what might have been dried meat or vegetables. Next to the pit is a pile of disgusting diseased rat carcasses, hundreds stacked in a gruesome mass. The giant rat's severed head graces the top of the pile, its one eye glaring out at the world and face frozen in a snarl. The humans notice that both the wood of the crate and the wood inside the wagon is dark and punky looking where the goop touched it, as if it is rotten. The two see the small group approaching and stop their work and salute Kassah.

"Hsssillaa, Kassil. Report!" the pathfinder orders.

The one cleaning the crates motions to them and the burst grain. "The human's quick thinking of calling the alert and pulling that strange disk out saved some of the grain and dried meat sacks in that wagon. However, the only thing salvagable in the other wagon was the stuff that was in crates. And even then, whatever that goop the rats were infested with damaged the wood, as if anything that touched that stuff instantly rotted.. That wagon isnt suitable for travel until it is repaired. Kassil is scrubbing it out right now, and just finished with the other one. We managed to collect the disks. The odd thing is, the one that was left in the wagon charred a deep black circle around it into the wood, as if it got red hot." he tells the pathfinder, his artificial voice sounding like an eager teenager, although judging by his size and age he is much older.

Kassil jumps down out of the wagon she is in and pulls out two circles of bone. She holds them out to the pathfinder and the humans can tell they have some sort of symbols inscribed on one side. Kassah takes them and turns them over in her hands.

"I have no idea" the pathfinder states after a minute. "Here, do you recognize anything about these things? Perhaps Thraxxiss would know, but I don't want to wake him, as he needs to rest to regain his mana." she says as she passes one disk to Artaxes and one to Thiy.

The disks are about palm sized and of smooth polished bone. Although when they were actively summoning the rats, the runes carved into one side were glowing red, now they are inert. They are carved into the disk and colored with something dull read. You can roll a knowledge arcana/religion or straight INT to see if you recognize them.

"One final thing," Kassah says. "Please bear your chests. Just trust me." The two guards look at her bemusedly, but comply, unlacing their armor and pulling the front boiled leather plate off. Both of their chests are unmarred, the scales smooth and glistening. The male, Hsssilaa smirks at Kassah as the pathfinder peers at his narrow chest.

"Oh, I didn't know you cared!" he says in a fake falsetto, his nostrils wide. Kassah flares her nostrils at him and lets out a hissing chuckle as she swats him with her hand.

"Alright, now taht that's taken care of, this is Sssaar." she says, motioning to the unconcious bundle. She looks around to make sure no-one is nearby and proceeds to fill the two guards in on the recent events regarding the traitor, speaking in a low voice.

As she speaks, Artaxes notices taht the drover, although he appears to be absorbed in caring for the grahhssk is slowly edging closer and closer to the wagon circle as if h is trying to catch Kassah's words.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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OOC - knowledge arcana/religion (1d20+1=19)

Holding onto Sssaar's legs she looks uninterested at first at the bone disk. Then she recognises something about it and pauses about her duties, causing Artaxes to grunt as suddenly he isn't carrying the torso in such a comfortable fashion now. The question was - revealing knowledge of the device may reveal too much about herself. "Ahh yes." she gravely intones. "While I am not privy to the workings of the nefarious there is some interesting information here."

Thiy drops the lizar body on the floor when the conversation between the lizars starts, and peers into the cleaner of the wagons. The pig is already sniffing around underneath and seems amazingly happy to have a supply of diseased rat corpses to feed on. "You porcine are amazing." she uttered. Probably inside was preferred.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes accepted the disk, and examined it disinterestedly. He had no idea where it came from, how it worked or what powered it.

Still, he kept silent. Rolling the disk around in his hands, he pretended to be distracted, while actually looking over at drover through the corner of his eye. As it became more obvious that he was listening in to Kassah's conversation, Artaxes began to clench one of his fists. He still had some built-up aggression from the battle, and if this lizar was somehow involved he would be more than happy to take it out on him.

Intelligence roll was 8 - 1 = 7.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Crap, OB. Forgot the spoiler tag for the results of your spot inthe last post. Ian, dont read that! ;)

The pig snoots around the pile of rat corpses, then bends down and happily starts wallowing in the muddy guck seeping out around the pile. It then gets up and runs back over the the monk, covered in a thick coat of reeking mud, with little chunks of rat flesh and hair stuck to it. It looks proud of itself, although the smell is enough to make the humans wish they had mobile nostrils like the lizar.

Peering at the disk, Thiy recognizes
Spoiler
quite a few of the symbols on it, although she has never seen one of this make before. They are typically small flat disks of blackened metal, used by cultists to guard their sanctums. They will summon a specific type of being under certain conditions set into place at the disk's creation. Typically, they are put around altars, treasure areas, or slave holding pens. Also, she has heard of them put in places where the cult's enemies would trigger them.

This one is different, however. It seems cruder. Sh has never heard of one being made of bone, or that had a radius under which it would be operated. The runes carved on it seem crude as well, as if they were just carved with a pick, instead of laboriously being etched in with acids as she has seen the HIgh Priest do. Being a monk-initiate, instead of a priest, she never got the instruction in the runes that the initiates who were taking the clerical path did, but she does see the SAR rune that has become so common. She also recognizes one known as VEN. That rune is common, and generally put in a non magical form on items that could be dangerous. Other than that, the runes just look like odd squiggles and lines. But, this obviously points to a cult similar to her old one being involved, somehow.
Artaxes takes the disk after the monk is done looking at it.
Spoiler
However, his attention is only half on the item in his hands, even if he could make out any rune besides the common VEN symbol used to mark poisonous items, and the SAR symbol that unfortuantely seems to be popping up everywhere. Instead he watches the drover carefully while pretending to be absorbed in the disk. The skinny older lizar doesn't seem to notice that he is being intently watched. He is sweeping the edge of the grahhssk area next to the wagon, ostensibly to collect grahhssk droppings. However, there is no doubt about it, he has edged far beyond where the tethered grahhssk can reach and is just sweeping the dirt. He has alos gotten into a position where because Kassah and the two are right up against the wagon, he cant be seen as he is lurking on the other side of it. As the mercenary watches, he reaches up to his throat and touches something, although Artaxes can't see what it is.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes kept a discreet watch on the drover. In truth he did not know if the creature was a traitor, or merely overly curious, but either possibility was unacceptable. When he came near the wagon the mercenary spun into action. Dropping the disk suddenly he raced towards the lizar.

"How about you explain why you are listening in, eh?" he snarled in irritation, grabbing the lizar's wrist with his right hand, while holding the left hand ready if needed. "And what have you got there?" he added, looking at the creature's throat and claw. Using his full weight he pushed forward with his left elbow, attempting to press the lizar against the side of the wagon.

I guess it is a strength roll...that was 20 + 3 = 23. Yay!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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The lizar struggles briefly, but is no match for the mercenary's greater strength. The speed with which Artaxes moves is amazing, and he has the drover fully pinned up against the sidewall by the time Kassah, Ktch'klik and the two guards rush around the wagon.

"Caught us a snooper, I see!" Kassah says, an unfriendly glint in her eyes. Ktch'klik steps out from behind the two guards and clicks his mandibles menacingly.

"Lets just see here," he says, motioning for Artxaxes to pull whatever the lizar was touching out from under his high-collared long vest. The mercenary finds the object easily, it appears to be a small bone disk, similar to but not like the one that was found in the wagon. It is much smaller, and more oblong.

The drovers eyes grow wide and his nictacting membrane slides across his eyes as he shakes in fear. Ktch'klik reaches out around Artaxes and slices open the lizar's long vest with one swift movement of one of his curved daggers. Surprisingly, the lizar's scales are smooth, no SAR or other runes carved on his chest.

"Hm. He is unmarked." says the male guard, Hsssilaa.

"That means nothing!" says Kassah. Artaxes shouts for the drover to explain himself as to why he was listening in, and all the others nod, looking very dangerous.

"You told me he had blackscale wasting...But I saw..." the drover begins, his voice shaking in fear. Kassah motions for him to go on.

He stops and collects his thoughts, trying to calm himself. "We had become friends on this trip, close friends. He spent much time visiting with me in camp, and seemed interested in my grahhssk." he continues, looking over at the canvas wrapped unconcious form. It was just...the rats earlier...I was sleeping near the wagons to be close to my grahhssk. I was woken by the noise. I saw him in webs. He seemed...mad...crazy. I became concerned. When you took him away, I tried to put it out of my mind and layed back down and dozed off, then got up to clean the grahhssk picket. Then you came back, with him asleep and wrapped up. You all looked so serious...I just wanted to see what was going on...I'm sorry. I didnt mean to spy" he babbles.

"And this?" asks Ktch'klik as he taps the bone pendant with a dagger.

"He gave it to me. Said it was a gift, a good luck charm. At first when you told me, I thought it might have the bad-air of blackscale wasting on it. But then I saw you all talking, and that thing that you pulled out of the wagon. I heard you call him a traitor. He was so nice, talked about his mate and kakkiss, said he missed them. Its hard to believe..." he says, his voice still shaking.

"Hsssilaa, Kasssil, watch him. If he so much as twitches or even looks like he's gonna move, kill him" Kassah orders, her voice sharp.

She motions for Artaxes to let the drover go and nods to the far side of the encampment near the grahhssk area, far ennough away that they wont be overheard.

Once there, Ktch'klik climbs up a tree and peers around. "Theres no one here." he says once he is back on the ground.

Kassah sighs and turns to the humans and arachne. "Well. What do you think? Should we trust him? His story seems somewhat fishy to me, but I could just be being paranoid. I am reasponsible for the caravan's safety after all."

Alright, so you can go ahead and retcon anything in there, Ian. I just wanted to move things along. Anyone is also welcome to roll a Sense Motive while the drover is speaking, search around the area or the drover's possessions ect. Whatever you want to do or think would help. Oh, and BTW OB your STR/grapple was so high you could say "put the pressure on" by doing arm locks while the drover is talking, if you want to. IF you decide to do anything like that, I'll juts edit it in.
Last edited by raixel on Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Spelled "arm lock" like armmnlods. Joy of typo!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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OB, I was wondering what you wanted to do about Ian being gone till Sun? Since I noticed you can't seem to always get on on the weekends, do you wanna only post tomorrow and skip Sat, then Ian can retcon whatever he wants in when he gets back Sim, and I'll edit and then we can be back on track Mon? Or if you want to keep going and juts have Ian respond when he gets back, thats cool too.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"So this traitor gave you a mysterious good luck charm, and you didn't think to tell the rest of us? Not even when you heard what he was?" Artaxes face was close to the lizar's, and red with either exertion or anger. "You expect us to believe that? What else aren't you telling us?" he pressed hard against the drover, contorting his arm as he spoke.

At Kassah's motion he released him suddenly, allowing him to fall to the ground before following the group over to the meeting area. "His story is fishy. At the very least he is an idiot. But I guess we need him to keep the caravan moving?"

"Still, he is our only suspect right now. That makes it even more urgent to search the caravan thoroughly. Check people's chests, and their belongings. Starting with the drover."

See OOC thread for answer to your question!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"Good idea." Kassah says. She walks back over to where the guards have the drover held at swordpoint. "We are going to search around. Just keep him there. And like I said before, if he gives you any trouble..." She draws a finger across her neck. The two guards nod and say "Yes, Pathfinder."

She turns away, then spins back around, a look of menace on her face as she faces the terrified drover. "Unless of course theres anything you wish to tell us first?"

The lizar mutely shakes his head, and Kassah shrugs and turns back around. 'Your loss, if we find out you've been lying.' she tells him over her shoulder.

The four approach the grahhssk picket-rings, and the sleepy creatures raise their heads out of the feed uckets the drover most likely just left for them and let out quiet trills at the party. The pecuilar and unpleasant smell of grahhssk wafts over the humans Like I said before, its a combination of swamp mud and what a snake's cage smells like when its dirty, almost fishy, although the beasts themslves look clean and well-kept. They reach their long thin necks out, forked tongues flickering out at the unfamiliar scents. Artaxes finds a small triangular head with beady black eyes peering at his face from a few inches away, followed by a flickering blue-black tongue as the creature scents him.

The drover has set up one of those peculiar insect net ball-tents in between the roofed-over open area where THiy deposited the harness earlier and the grahhssk pickets. THe whole area surrounding the tent is neat and well swept. There is a tiny ring of stones with half-burned wood and an odd ball shaped lidded pot of some kind with a long narrow spout on one side and stone handle on the other directly outside the tent. The fire has been out for a bit, and only the faintest wisps of white smoke rise from it. Next to the tent a large covered metal bucket sits. The eight grahhssk are nearby, tied to the stone rings set into the ground on teathers, three per ring. They are close enough that the drover could attend to any issues in the night, but far enough that even by straining their tethers and stretching their necks, they could just barely touch the firepit. Behind where the grahhssk stand with their heads contentedly in their feed buckets is a long stone trough, presumably to water the beasts.

Kassah undoes the ties holding the tent closed and throws back the flap, then undoes the ties on the opposite side holding the inner flap in place and pushes that back too. The humans are impressed with the design on the tent. It is made of fine mesh and shaped like a floored half-sphere about 5 feet acoss and 3 high at the highest point. Two arches made of springy wood gives it its shape. They slide into sleeves in the mesh and are attached to the ground by loops of sturdy cloth tied to their ends through which stone stakes have been drivem. Because it has a floor, crawling insects are unable to get inside. The two flaps that tie on opposite ends will prevent flying insects from making their way in as well. Although the tent's mesh wont keep rain out, the drover has erected a leanto made of some kind of smooth and rubbery looking dark red skin over the top, and the ground the tent sits on it perfectly dry. Next to the tent, also under the leanto is a small stack of dry wood - probably the source of the fire, as due to the earlier rain any wood not covered wouldn't burn.

Inside the tent, the humans can see a mat of skins sewn together in a circle to provide a cushion against the ground. Against one wall of the tent is what looks like a rolled up bedroll made of some kind of light cloth the humans have never seen before. The bedroll looks like it would weigh much less than the Guild-issued rolls the humans carry. There is a round pillow of yellow arachne silk that is big enough to be used for sleeping or sitting resting in the center of the tent. Next to that is a small chest made of some shining pale wood. A brass keyhole sits prominently in the chest's lid. On top of the chest is an empty cup with the dregs of some liquid in it, an empty bowl with a spoon in it, and a stubby unlit beeswax pillar candle. Next to the chest is a rough reed-fiber sack similar to the ones in the food wagon but much smaller. It is mostly full of something, a rope knotted around the mouth holding it shut.

Kassah looks at the two. "Do you want to search inhere or outside? Ktch'klik and I will do what ever one you dont want."
K, so I assume you guys are gonna wanna search/spot. TEll me what everyone is looking at and what they do.
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