Turn 125
Barbaxle walks over to Crystal, Whisper, and Edo working on the gypsies, and
pulls out 2 wineskins brimming with clear liquid. Caoihmin, a gypsy who looks
like he may be related to the people in the wagon rushes forward, urging
barbaxle on, and pulling out a potion vial and giving it to a young woman who
looks to have a particularly nasty cut across her shoulder. Sipping the healing
potion causes the shoulder cut to knit back together instantly, and color
returns to the womans face as she hugs him and aloud says "Thank you Caoihmin of
clan Dubhlachan for coming to our rescue." Cao looks embarrassed and points out
that he only just arrived, the woman (he indicates Crystal) saved them.
In the meantime, Barbaxle feeds a few sips of the water in the wineskin to each
of the gypsies and miraculously, they are healed of their cuts and scrapes,
gashes knit together in front of your eyes, and bruises fade from bright blue,
to purple, to yellow, to normal skin again with no sign of injury. (It takes 2
full skins out of your 5 to accomplish this heal).
The messenger Leonnie introduces himself to Gareth with an excited look on his
face, and then introduces the rest of his group (Crystal, Edo, Stella, Whisper,
and Laban) but when he tries to intro Laban, it's noted Laban is not in
residence. "He must still be in the cave" Leonnie notes aloud before continueing
to speak.
(in a nutshell) "Whisper and Crystal are here to reinforce the party. Leonnie
and Stella will carry back completed maps, and missives to Dragonmeyr, and Edo
and Laban were met a few days ago and they have been traveling together. "
Leonnie suggests the possibility of including them as reinforcements as well,
since the group is less than 1/2 the size of what they expected back in town.
All the gypsies are healed, and pulling themselves together. Crystal and Whisper
realize these are the people they were sent to reinforce, and Gareth recognizes
Leonnie as a messenger from King Arions court.
Arilyn looks at the giant and slowly walks all around his huge frame.
She overhears Crystal's words and steps over to her, impressed with the
battle skills that she must possess. She smiles and extends her hand.
Well met, Crystal. I am Arilyn.
She turns and moves silently to the other new members. With a warm
smile, she politely offers her hand in friendship.
"As King Arion requests, though the party shall have choice as to the
acceptance or denial of Edo and Laban. Edo's animosity and Laban's absence
will have to be overcome in the request to join, else I suspect the party
will have little of them," Gareth replies courteously to the functionary.
"I wish to speak to our new allies, but if you would join Cole and myself in
a moment, I do have some materials to be sent back. If you will excuse me."
The paladin strides over to Crystal and Whisper, a welcoming expression
upon his features. "Lord Whisper, Lady Crystal, it is my pleasure to accept
you into the company at behest of King Arion. I am our good King's
representative within the group; in terms of security and related fields, I
have authority, however we prefer the group's concensus to decide most
matters. Belittling others because of gender or race is not acceptable,
though I expect neither will be forthcoming fromt eh two of you." Nodding
an additional acknowledgement towards Crystal, the knight smiles softly,
"And m'lady, since I am doing so poor a job, perhaps you will be able to
assist me in my duties. Welcome; I will discourse with you in greater
length at a later time, Pikahl willing. Pikahl bless you and ward you."
The knight returns to speak with the messenger.
Having finished his search of the cave and heard voices outside Laban walks
slowly towards the entrance pulling his hood up over his head. He walks
slowly out using the edge of his cloak to wipe any blood or grime from his
scimitars each one in turn not putting them away until he is sure that those
outside are friends. Upon exiting the cave entrance you see a figure
wrapped in a cloak he does not seem to wear armour but carries two gleaming
scimitars and has dark skin on his hands. You cannot see anything else of
his as he wears a long cloak and the hood is pulled over his head.
"Sir Knight, it is just Whisper. Titles of Lord and Lady are to be
earned." he says with a rare elven scowl. "And I care nothing of your
king or your god, I am in it for the money and the learning of the land.
So do not confuse me for anything that I am not." Observant people will
notice Whisper casting glances at the non-elves when they are not paying
so much attention to him and nodding.
Whisper slightly tired of all these introductions, moves over to flank
Laban and greet him. "Anything in there worth our time, Laban?"
Arilyn looks out the corner of her eye to Whisper. She studies him...his
every move...his every nuance. She crosses her arms and glances over to
Laban, studying him as well. She strides off and speaks with the
gypsies, offering them comfort and whatever food she has. Of course, she
pays close attention to her purse.
As you are an elf, Whisper doesn't spare you a second glance.
Turning to face the largest of the newcomers Laban does neither raise his
sword or replace it in it's sheath. Sensing the slight tension in Whispers
voice he waits to see what is happening. He watches as others tend to the
healing of the gypsies, "There seems to be little of value inside the cave!"
He answers to Whisper when asked if there was anything found. As the people
carry on around him he slips his sword into it's sheath with a smooth
motion. The hood on his cloak is deep and cover his face well making it
hard from any distance to see what he looks like.
Wulfgar looks at the newcomer as he comes out of the cave and at Whisper as
he talk with Gareth. He kneels at the headless Giant inquisitive as to the
ability of such as Crystal to be able to behead such a monster. He smiles
to himself and stands up slowly having come to his own conclusions on the
matter. He then walks to the edge of the clearing and scouts around the
perimeter to see if he can find any other tracks or trails leading away from
the clearing. Other than ones made recently by either group entering or the
Giant coming in with his cart. He whistles to himself and when finished
will find a spot to sit with his horse close by whilst the others introduce
themselves.
Kay watches the others from the comport of her horse, Angel. "Well then,
looks like we're no longer needed. The giant is dead and the gypsies are
healed, pretty much. I don't see any point in lollygaging in the middle of
nowhere, I'm sure there's more evil to be squashed, more of that map to
finish, more of the wretchedly helpless to be er, helped, and more treasure
hordes to be found. I think we should bid these over-cloaked,
oh-so-mysterious fellas a fine adieu and hit the road..Don't you think
Wolfie?"
Once the introductions are made and the area appears to be secure, Vincas
guides his horse down to join the group. As he approaches, he unloads his
crossbow and secures the weapon to his saddle.
Once he is among the group, he dismounts and looks with sadness at the
gypsies. He waves his hand to the newcomers and offers a friendly smile.
"Well met, I'm Vincas Quinbal of the village Durant. I must say I'm quite
taken aback to meet even more elves, having never even seen one until a few
months ago. You sure are adventurous folk I'll give you that."
Jahl turns a surprised look towards Kay, then looks at Wulfgar and grins
widely, "wolfie?" Jahl can't help it as he lets a soft chuckle escape his
lips.
"Yeah... then we landed in the faerie realm, met that queen wazername who
gave our town the magic grain, then help the other-world elves ta kill
that armoured evil-elf fellow...er...wazisname. Strange times indeed. Even
found sum uv our towns folk were of mixed parentage. Can you believe that!
Folk we knew were half-elven and we didn't even know that the elves
existed! Strange days these is..."
Keldar moves back to help out where he can with the gypsies
Laban turns at the comment of "these overly cloaked people" He raises a
hand and slides the hood from his head. Before you stands a Doweirarre "I
wear the hood to protect my eyes from the sunlight!" He looks at the
speaker with a hand covering the direct sunlight from hitting his eyes.
Wulfgar turns to face Kay "Please Kay Wulfgar is my name, if you must make a
nickname for me not Wulfie as this is a na.." He spots the character
lowering his hood he jumps up "What the...?" He seems lost for words for a
moment. "You must be joking if you expect me to travel with him I would
rather kill him where he stands!" He starts to draw his sword "His kind
kill the Elves of the surface in cold-blooded massacres!" Wulfgar spits on
the ground and pulls his sword free.
Keldar looks in terror at the now enraged Wulfgar, and screams out "NO".
His hand slides into his cloak, recovering some spell components. THe
little gnome launches his body between Wulfgar and the now exposed Laban.
" 'es' done nothing but save thems people ya bone'ead "
With that Keldar unleashes a spell at Wulfgar.
Jahl turns towards the commotion and quickly spies keldar and his spellcasting. Jahl dives
for cover.
Whisper raises his bow and takes out an arrow. "You'd better tell your
friend to back off," he says to Kay.
"Alas sir Knight he speaks words of truth, although I do belong to that race
I do not follow their rules or codes. I have learnt my skills in their
schools and know how to fight. You need not protect me for I can handle
myself and if I was to be killed in combat by a better man then I hold no
grudges" He looks toward Wulfgar, "I mean you and your kind no harm Wulfgar
and I hate my people for what they have done to some of the surface races.
I myself have been hunted and will continue to be hunted I offer you my hand
in peace." He extends his hand towards Wulfgar.
"Then how about Wolf, or Wulfies? I just don..". Believing there's unseen
danger, Kay quickly re-notches a arrow and looks around, "Who killed the
elves of the surface in a cold-blooded massacre? Is it the Spooky Cloaked
Guy number two, the one with the light-sensitive eyes? And who said we'd be
traveling with guys?" The confused archer continues to scan the surrounding
area, looking for anyone (or thing) that resembles a cold-blooded killer of
surface elves.
At this, Whisper lowers his bow, casting a meaningful glance at Kay's fast
reaction and just giving the paladin a glance and a half smile/smirk.
Edo stood by the dark elf stoically, his eyes watching all. Laban was
his only true companion here, the only one he had fought and bled beside.
Things were getting out of hand and fast. This he definately did not
like.....
Vincas watches the exchange with wide-eyed surprise. He begins to head
toward Keldar, but when Gareth steps forward the young man simply falls into
place behind him, his hand on his sword hilt.
"Please everyone, take a moment here. My apologies, my friends and I have
been through alot lately, as you must have been as well. I for one am
willing to consider you an ally in these dark times Laban."
If Wulfgar doesn't accept Laban's handshake, Vincas will.
Stopping short when Gareth barges Keldar out of the way for the sight of
Keldar did nothing to stop him Wulfgar listens to Laban with interest
however the look on his face does not bode well for acceptance of the
proffered hand. Wulfgar thinks for a minute then gritting his teeth for a
second you seem to think he is going to continue his attack. "Laban,
perhaps you are innocent and I am not one to attack innocents, so I accept
your hand and hold it as your word and bond. However, do not cross me for
my friends will not save you next time if you do. I know your kind and
perhaps it is a wise thing that these others here obviously do not." He
lowers his sword and takes the hand offered by Laban. Wulfgar then turns on
Keldar "If you had seen the slaughter brought about by Laban's kind, No
disrespect to Laban if he really is different he will know what I mean.
Then you would have done the same, did the sight of the caravan back at the
road turn your stomach, then it probably equalled the carnage left behind by
Laban's kind." With that Wulfgar walks straight past Keldar and Emperor,
with a glance at Kay who still stood with her bow ready hew walked to sit
alone with his horse.
Kay meets Wulfgar's glance, "I'm sorry, but were you talking about the guy
over there?", She notions to Laban, "Looks like a plain ol' elf to me,
slightly darker skin, but an elf!", she takes a quick look at the dark elf,
"He's not some kind of shape-shifter, or a were-creature, is he? If not,
please tell me what's the big deal." While waiting for an answer, she
returns her bow and slowly massages the sides of her horse, poor thing.
Once the argument between Laban and Wulfgar starts you see Barbaxle stand up
and reach for his scimitar. While still keeping it sheathed he is ready draw
his weapon if this situation turns into a battle. After the two shook hands
(or kissed and made it depends on how you look at it HEHEHE) and the weapons
are put away he will take his hand off his trusty metal of destruction. When
he hears the stories of massacre that went on Barbaxle says to the group "I
know what you must feel, I haven't told any of you this before but I think
this is a good time to tell this story. My father was a nature loving man
and he was out in the forest tending to the trees, when he was attacked and
killed by a group of giants. Such as this beast right here" Barbaxle walks
over to the slain giant and gives it a small kick in the leg. "So, I know
about that feeling in the pit of your stomach. I had that terrible sensation
walking all the way from the road to here. I was in a very tense mood
walking up this hill. I can understand why you acted the way you did
Wulfgar, but you must try to control yourself. We don't want another Jarryd
(I think that is who did it?)incident." He then walks over to Crystal and
says "Do you play that guitar? If so I think now would be a good time to
play a calming tune. The tension is a little too high right now."
Gareth, seeing Wulfgar's angry outburst resulting in the slaughter of the
strangers, deliberately bumped Keldar before his unpredictable spellcasting
could be completed, pointed at Wulfgar and yelled, "Emperor, guard
Wulfgar!," trusting the great equine to interfere with Wulfgar's movement,
then stepped directly in front of Whisper's threatening bow. The paladin's
piercing green eyes, a moment ago friendly, hunted down and pinned Whisper's
gaze. "BY PIKAHL AND ALL THAT IS HOLY, ***STOP***!," Gareth's booming voice
roared across the clearing. "We did not both come here to save these folk
only to kill each other! Keldar, are you mad? Spellcasting unstable and
you dare it among all these innocents? For shame! Whisper, lower your bow!
You miss and allow one of those so recently saved and healed to be struck
down? Wulfgar.. Wulfgar! I have not heard anything of what you prate, and
surely such word would have come to my ears in either my position as King
Arion's guard or his personal advisor. Use your eyes as well, man! This
group has been sent by King Arion, so obviously they must be trustworthy
despite their mercenarial leanings. Moreover, they-number-elves-among-them;
would those so easily side with genocidal killers whom would rescue captives
despite attacking with dangerous odds? Think Wulfgar! Set aside your anger
at Randos's doom. Callus is a diety of peace, is she not?" Throwing wide
his arms, the paladin implored, "Everyone, we are allies here, not foes.
One does not throw back evil and serve the people by attacking each other.
In fair warning, I swear, by Pikahl, that I will strike down myself the
first person who attacks. Needless bloodshed aids no one."
The knight droped his hands to his hips, but held a ready tension in his
kness that spoke volumes of a fast reaction...
The bump jars Keldar, just as a number of small tarts are thrown at his
hostile companion, and the feather he was waving is sent flying from his
hands. The little gnome rolls out of the bump, and glares at the
interviening companion. "Ya never interupt me magic like that! With it bein'
so strange now, ya never know what'll happen if ya stop it in tha middle.
And ta the problems, they're curses ta me, the caster, not no-one else as
I've seen!! Better fer me ta suffer somthin' than have these men pig stuck
BY THAT HOT HEADED-HOLY ONE THERE! Laban's as innocent as anyone, and
deservin' o' 're respect an' care, just like anyone else!" The little gnome
tries to look as large as he can, and glares at his hot-headed companions.
"Of course Laban deserves our respect, Keldar. Wulfgar was surprised by
Laban's revelation and still recovering from Randos' emergence after his
fell departure. He perceived another hidden danger, but over-reacted, and
he understands such, I am certain. Your actions were also well-intentioned,
however, they were no better, friend gnome. During our journeys, we have
heard tell of fireballs from the sky and massive tornados resulting from the
miscast magic; how likely are such abberations to not injure anyone else
when we are as tightly packed as we are now?" Gareth poses more calmly to
Keldar. "We must always be open to new information, friend Keldar; today I
have learned more of the elven history, Wulfgar has accepted information
contrary to his bias about darker-skinned elves, and you must accept how
dangerous magic is at the present moment. Every person here who wields a
sword understands - or should - the effect a bared weapon holds on any
interaction, knows the danger within the blade. The lives of your
companions may be jeopardized with each magick you cast - bear that in
mind."
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