Tribal Strife, Part 1
Thanks to Mikilos, you all found yourself teleported out to a city in Sijaan. This coastal hub was a bustling place and you could find just about anyone from anywhere. There were even a few Sith, though far away from the portal, however they looked more like escapees from Charn than anything else.
This Sijaan city was a trading hub, and recently they ran into a problem. The death of a local diplomat resulted in a breakdown in communication between them and the tribes in the area. With some legwork done, it was discovered (roughly) how to get to the Gweriapen tribe (a group of Sylvanori who were a bit territorial).
Unfortunately, the fastest way to reach them in straight through the jungle. The longer way is by path, and then smaller tributary type paths through the jungle. The longer way, of course, is safer.
These Sylvanori are currently attacking travellers and caravans that run through the area, enough that trade between Alexandria and this Sijaan city has become threatened. It's not overall a huge loss if trade doesn't continue, but people wouldn't be overly happy. It's your job to reestablish that trade in some way.
With all that backstory out of the way...
You find yourselves in this port city near the center. The place is busy, the sights and sounds are constant and a thrum of activity. It's hot, opressively so, with humidity that spikes up enough to create random rain showers.
Aznara, upon arrival, pulls off her outer layer of winter clothing, stashing it away into her little backpack -- as if glad to be able to doff that outer layer in warmer climes.
Nasrin is irritable right now. Sfor the most part it is due to the fact that she is hot. If the Cleric of Kor is hot no one gets to be in a ood mood. She glowers as she strolls through town, her axe resting against her left shoulder. The redhead stares down a hapless porter for a moment but eventually moves on to survyeing the town at large. "Let's find the people we need to talk to and find out what the circumstances are so we can be on her way," the woman states flatly. "Reestablishing trade might be easiest wit ha show of force. if they know we intend to protect our profits they'll probably shy away from a serious conflict." A face from nasrin makes it easy to tell what she thinks of such behavior.
Tirr is with the others, the tall Sith'Makar looking around curiously..... She seems actually quite comfortable. She smiles brightly and stretches her upper back as she looks around curiously. "Sooo...." she says and glances around curiously again. She looks now to Nasrin curiously and umms "I take it you're hot? I guess it's probably a good thing you have sweat glands huh?" She says simply, her voice prim, proper, as if she'd spent her whole life in a library, which is probably true.
Tirr then glances around and umms "Sooo! We're gonna be hunting this group of elves that are more than a bit tribal and are attacking folks?" She asks now, glancing around and rubbing at the back of her neck... "I guess a good thing i speak their language..." She mutters and puts hands in her pockets.
"Our local contact claims it iss the Gweriapen. They are a tribe deep in the jungle, sso it may take ssome time to travel." The sith-makar, Chay speaks in a low pitch, as one would in a wild place. "Perhapss they took sslight at ssomething. What we have heard ssuggessts they are prone to...prone to actss, and pride."
"Well... I'm not much for jungles, I'm afraid. I'll follow along and try my best to stay out of the way, unless I'm needed, if we're going on a jungle trek", Aznara says as she follows along.
"They are dangerouss, sssers. I would ssuggesst procuring a map if we may." Chay's tail flicks back and forth, uncertainly.
Whirlpool has arrived.
Maps of the jungle would be hard to come by, between the rains changing the smaller paths and the difficulty of mapping under a canopy, it's less an exact science and more of an art. Guides would be available though, however they come in different degrees of ability with the better the guide costing more gold.
"I do, however, own a compass... should anyone be able to make better use of it than I can", Aznara adds in a hopefully-helpful kind of way.
Granit offers. "I can probably assist in many navigation scenarios."
Chay thumps his tail. "Ssa, thank you," to Aznara. "If you're interessted in a guide, I will try my besst to work the cosst down," he says, and waits for a moment to see what the response is to that. Then adds, "And I will assk around, as well, to get as much desscription of the area as we can. Iss there anyone elsse sskilled in that that would like to help?" he looks around. He doesn't know others' skill sets.
GAME: Chay rolls profession/guide: (12)+7: 19
GAME: Chay rolls knowledge/local+1: (6)+3+1: 10
GAME: Aznara rolls diplomacy: (7)+5: 12
GAME: Chay rolls diplomacu: (7)+diplomacu: 7
GAME: Chay rolls diplomacy: (4)+7: 11
Tirr peers at chay, then siiidles over to him. Yah the tall lanky, rather out-going Sith is going to have some fun. She then asides "In yer element?" She asks, in Draconic of course. Then grins a bit and should Chay look at her, she'll try to nose boop him before wandering back to with the rest of them, then looks at Nasrin curiously again... "I can try to make cold-stones if you like, you can put them on the nape of your neck to help with cooling your self off?" She offers and then smiles 'brightly' as it were...
"Please do so, and I will pay my share of the guide's salary for the work", Aznara says to Chay.
"I am quite new at thiss. It jusst...sseems the direction the Hunter wisshes me to go," Chay says after a pause. He does his best to smile and does, eventually. It may be one of the few comfortable things he's done. "And thank you. ...but keeper, thiss is like home," he says.
Granit nods once, and lifts a hand. "A guide would be most welcome."
Between Chay and Aznara they managed to find a couple guides. One of them is very loud, colorfully dressed, and uses large hand gestures. He charges 200 gold a day, the other is quieter and more conservative, charging 150g a day.
This of course is a starting point, and it's possible to try and talk them down... or end up talking them up.
GAME: Nasrin rolls Sense Motive: (5)+8: 13
GAME: Aznara rolls sense motive: (6)+1: 7
GAME: Chay rolls profession/guide: (16)+7: 23
Nasrin has a small hand drum out and she is busy beating out a resounding theme as she moves through town,. She might just be singing to herself but it remains that the redheaded woman makes quite a bit of noise as she travels.
"Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon
(Yellow ribbon in her hair!)
She wore it in the spring time, early in the month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she wore it
She'd say she wore it for her soldier who was far, far away
(Far away, far away!)"
By the time everyone is back Nasrin is wrapping up the song, though she's sung it with a loud enough,emphatic voice htat most have heard it by now. with the guides being presented Nasrin looks between the pair, drum still in hand.
"Take the quiet one," the redhead states then, tilting herh ead slightly as she does."Waits until he needs to do something to act. That's a good sign."
Then Nasrin is back to drumming.
"...ssa, the quieter one iss the better guide, ssers," Chay says after they talk with them. "I do not think any of uss would be comfortable working with the firsst man." The tail flicks its end in agitation, once, twice. "But a hundred and fifty a day...that iss more than I earn in a week. We can try to talk him down."
GAME: Nasrin rolls perform/percussion: (18)+6: 24
"Both quote prices are... quite high. We are asking them to go into an area known to be dangerous, though. Do what you can to talk him down, of course", Aznara agrees.
Granit arms fold his arms across his chest. He considers both of them, then opines. "Take the quiet one. Last thing we need are personality clashes to complicate the task."
Tirr glances from person to person now, standing back while they talk of guides and the like.. "Sooo any luck in grabbing us an affordable guide?" she asks curiously, leaning over to talk to anyone she can at this point..
GAME: Chay rolls diplomacy: (13)+7: 20
GAME: Chay rolls profession/guide: (1)+7: 8 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Tirrynelth rolls diplomacy: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Granit rolls diplomacy: (10)+2: 12
GAME: Nasrin rolls Diplomacy: (5)+3: 8
GAME: Aznara rolls diplomacy: (7)+5: 12
It's a mixed bag. Chay starts talking about war and trying to prevent it between the city and the tribes... then started talking about how Chay is a good guide which makes the guy kinda doubt the sincerity...
The Book Wyrm started to speak then, but Granit was quick to kinda cut her off before a foot was inserted to her mouth.
Finally Aznara steps up, holding up her finger to point out that... resecuring trade would be good for business, and him, and that makes him stroke his chin and consider it... 100gold a day (should only be 2 days, that's not too bad if everyone chips in).
The rustscale stands nearer the door than the drummer. Chay wears a long, leather coat given to him by kin, though it's started to show some wear from the wild places. "We're working on it, keeper," he responds to Tirrynelth, respectfully. He tilts his muzzle towards the sylvanori, Granit, and then Aznara. He walks with them to speak with the guide. And, well.
"A hundred a day," he says, coming back. "I have brought ssome with me. If we pitch in--it iss two days, ssers. Doess this work?"
Aznara shrugs. "That does sound quite fair, to me", she says to the rest of the party. "Even half up-front, for him to leave with family or what-not", she adds.
Granit nods once. "It's okay." He reaches for a pouch. "Do you have enough?"
Tirr well she tries her best to talk to folks.. She ends up not doing so well and she siiiighs... "Yaaay, I'm no good at haggling." she surmises out loud... She then blinks at the thought of 100 a day and umms "I think I can help?" She says and rubs at the back of her neck.... She then asides to Chay "In the future, I'm not going to try and haggle much, I don't do too well and usually just get ignored..."
"The lasst job paid enough," Chay says after some hesitation, and reaches inside the coat. He counts out a handful of gold an silver, before adding them to the pot. He smiles at Tirrynelth, and offers a thump of the tail. "I am ssure you know more of the runess, keeper."
Dubtle has been here. He's also been mostly silent during the trip! He's totally on board, though. Totally.
GAME: Bolide gives you -166 silver.
He nods after the money has been given, he puts it in a pouch before setting it on a table. He looks back to them, "It's for my family." A nod of his head, grim, and he starts to gather his supplies.
"I need about ten minutes." He looks between the group, "My services include making sure you get food and water. We'll be getting it on the move. Don't touch anything if you can help it."
He starts loading things into a pack, "If I snake bites you, you probably won't make it back in time for the antidote. If it's a frog, for the love of the Gods, don't pet it no matter how pretty it is."
"Ssa, no frogs," Chay responds with careful humor, and an almost-smile. He's quieter now, that they're starting to set out, and watches as the guide prepares his own inventory. Perhaps, taking notes.
Granit checks his gear, again. He heads over to the guide. "You need anything? A spotter?" Quite voiced, he's all business at the moment.
Aznara wanders off while the guide's gone, to a nearby alchemist's shop she spotted, earlier, returning after making a purchase. Stopping, too, to restock herself on travel rations and refill her waterskins, she then returns to where the party is gathering.
"...oh, that's good to know," says Dubtle. He pulls out a small book and a fountain pen and proceeds to write that odwn.
"..do not pet the frogs, even if they are cute. Especially do not pet snakes if you want to live,." he mumbles.
A nod and the guide walks over to a door in the back of his shop, a knock, and the door opens. "Money's on the table. I should be back in a couple days."
"Ten gold?"
"No, No... A hundred."
". . ." The person pokes their head around the door, then looks back at the guide, "Where are you going? Oh Gods, please tell me you're not going into-"
"Hush. Hush." He puts his hand on the other man's shoulder, "It'll be alright dear. They're accomplished adventurers and terrible hagglers. You know how the saying goes. The worse they haggle, the better they fight. I'll be fine."
The man hiding behind the door looks around at you all again, then grumbling, retreats back inside.
The sith-makar adjusts his pack, a well-kept thing of simple leathers, so that it rests more comfortably on his shoulders. Another strap keeps it set around his middle. "...perhapss we fight well enough," Chay says, looking back at the person the guide is leaving behind.
Granit shrugs, and goes back to preparing. He checks his fletchings again, and then waits for the others, leaning on his pole-weapon / walking staff.
Aznara, for her part, just ... lounges about... or dances, if the music's still being played, to pass the time.
Tirr is wandering around in the whole shopping district. The tall Sith, glancing around curiously, before she finds, hopefully, a place to buy some healing potions? She tilts her head and wanders on inside, looking for said potions... Potions are good...
The guide turns around and then finishes his packing while you all go about your business of buying, selling, dancing, and what not. There's a nod from the man in Chay's direction at the comment of fighting and then soon it's time to set out.
It's about half an hour for you all to work your way to the edge of the jungle, and then you plunge into it. After only fifty feet... it's like there never was a city that you came from. The jungle simply engulfs you on all sides.
GAME: Granit rolls survival: (17)+11: 28
GAME: Chay rolls survival+1: (4)+9+1: 14
GAME: Aznara rolls survival: (9)+1: 10
"...what do you know of the Gweriapen, and their landss?" Chay asks the guide, once they're outside of the small town. "One hass heard consserns that they are eassily offended, but thiss one iss an outssider, sser." Once the jungle encloses him, he relaxes. Some.
GAME: Dubtle rolls Survival: (12)+2: 14
GAME: Tirrynelth rolls survival: (20)+1: 21
Granit doesn't really talk much, he just works around the group, trying to keep everything smooth. Turns out, he doesn't need to do too much.
GAME: Nasrin rolls survival+2: (5)+3+2: 10
It's quickly and easily seen that Aznara's a city-type of person. Still, she's agile and fairly light on her feet, and she doesn't complain about anything as she actually manages to keep up with everyone else.
...well, Dubtle doesn't lick any frogs, anyway. That's the good news. He's already getting a little fed up with a jungle march, thougyh, mopping his face with a handkerchief from time to time.
You all are surprisingly effective at getting through the jungle. Seriously, only a few of you even became marginally turned around. Tirr practically led the way along with the guide, running out in front to pause and look at some new thing, then running out to look at another. Frankly... Tirr looked about at home in the jungle as she did in the library.
The guide looks to Chay and nods his head afew times, "Yes, they are very wary of outsiders. They don't like trespassers. They are an aggressive folk, but they usually don't attack this.... fervantly." A nod of his head again.
A few hours go by and you find a stream up ahead. It spans some fifteen feet and a couple spots down river have a splash of white. The current doesn't look too fast from where you all stand. The guide pauses though, he doesn't seem about to just jump in and wade across.
Aznara, following along, calls ahead, "The stream is slow, here. If we're to cross, wouldn't this be a good place to do it?"
Chay thumps his tail at the guide's words. Then, as the other pauses he too looks overhead along the canopy, at the trees and their branches. "Could we usse the branches overhead?" he asks, and then goes quiet, to hear the answer to Aznara's question.
Granit considers the stream. "So, what usually lives in these ones. It's slow, so things can gather to ambush."
Tirr has a book! What's more it's a nice, smallish book, the cover of which says. "Jungle Survival for City Folk" Tirr glances up and down to the book and up and so forth, the tall Sith'Makar using it to refrerence quite often! She even has a leather chord on the book and ties it closed to let it hang off her neck, inside her robes of course. She doesn't want it damaged!!!
The guide looks to Aznara, nodding his head a bit, "Yep." Then he picks up a stick, and looks back at the river, "You city folk think that way. But it's faster than you think and-"
The guide actually stops, and looks back to Granit, another nod of his head -- a few nods of his head actually -- then back to the river, "What the Ranger said. I thought I pegged you as one, that confirms it alright. He's got the way of things with that."
The guide tosses the stick into the river, sure enough the branch moves by faster than you would expect, and dark shadows seem to lurk in the brown water underneath it. "The white water. See white water within a hundred meters or so and not a bend? Probably running fast."
"Here though." He says, and the guide reaches up to stroke along his bearded chin. "Hmm. Dunno what's lurkin' that was bigger than I thought it should be. I expected maybe a little white water splash. Some piranha or somethin'. Nope. That's a biggun." He looks up at the trees too, where Chay was looking. The branches don't quite stretch across all the way. Close... but not quite. And they're high. Might be jumpable though.
Granit licks his teeth thoughtfully. "Jump. Swing. Just don't grab onto the snakes." His lips press together.
"...I can get a rope across," Chay says as he eyes the gap across the trees. His tail is still behind him, and he pauses. Then paces back and forth once, twice to gauge perspective from different angles. "Hunter willing, ssers. We can get a rope from there--" he points from one tree line, "--to there," to another.
Tirr blinks curiously and looks to Chay then to the others then to where they need to go... She studies the shadow in the water now curiously "Ummmmm.... Sooo how are you suggesting we cross this?" She motions to the critter... "Is that a crocodylian of some sort?" She asks and rubs the back of her neck again..
"That sounds slightly better than me trying to swim acoss in all of this metal,"Nasrin mutters quietly. She tilts her heqd slightly to the left as she does so, a wave of cirmson tresses falling across her shoulders. Then the woman takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. The drum is tucked away so that the Korite can dive into her pack. "I'll provide the rope if you can get me a way across that doesn't involve acrobatics," the woman offers then. "If you'd please."
Granit keeps an eye on the jungle as the set-up begins.
"If it's acrobatics that are needed, perhaps I can then be of service?", Aznara says, looking up and about. "Hand me the end of the rope.... if I can get up to that branch, I think I can make my way across well enough..."
GAME: Aznara rolls athletics: (5)+8: 13
GAME: Aznara rolls 1d6: (1): 1
GAME: Aznara rolls acrobatics: (9)+13: 22
GAME: Aznara rolls 1d6: (4): 4
GAME: Aznara rolls acrobatics: (12)+13: 25
GAME: Aznara rolls 1d6: (6): 6
GAME: Aznara rolls 1d6: (1): 1
Chay lowers his pack from his shoulder. Against one side is bound a light rope coil, which he begins to undo. This, he tosses to Aznara, with a thump of the tail.
The guide gives another scruff of his chin, then a look around to the adventurers. He gives Aznara another look, then toward Nasrin. A lift of his eyebrow, "Whelp. I'll admit, you definitely came better prepared than most. Spider silk rope? That'll do. That'll do."
He turns to look at Tirr, frowning a little, his brow furrowing, "Erm. Is it a what now?"
Dubntle is just sort of looking at it it and saying ,"Noe." The last thing he's going to be abel to do is cross something like /that/. Not with legs this short.
Tirr looks at her book and the shadow.. "Just curious what the possible critter in the water was..." she says and rubs at the back of her neck "Ya know if we strung a rope across and all, and then made it tight, one end tied above the other, we could slide down safely to the other bank without trying to swing across and flip and stuff..." she says, watching Aznara's display...
Aznara catches the end of the rope, looping it about her belt a bit... then up the tree she goes. She has some trouble with getting up the trunk of the tree, ending up having to wrap her whip around the trunk to use as a bracing rope. Eventually, though, she gets up onto the branch. Her first step or two is tentative... but then she simply walks along the branch, swinging around an off-shoot from it and continuing along as if there hadn't been an obstruction in the first place. Then her whip is out, again... and the end of it is thrown up and ahead, wrapping around a slightly higher branch. Swinging from the end of her whip, she lands on another branch, this one attached to a tree across the stream; the whip is unwrapped and pulled back to her with a flick of her wrist. That done, she turns and walks backwards along the branch a bit to look back and down to the party, waving one hand... then turns back around to finish the walk across to the other tree trunk. Then, again using her whip as a brace, she quickly shimmies down... across the river with the rope, which she sets to tying about the trunk of the tree she came down out of.
Granit watches the proceedings and pauses. "Oh, now /that/ is fancy."
Nasrin is watching as Aznara crosses the river, her head tilted slightly as she considers the process carefully. The redhead takes a deep breath and holds it for a couple beats before finishing with a slow shrug. Then she steps forrward. Slowly. "Well..." She pauses. "That's one way to do it. For the first time I feel almost humbled... Nevermind. Let's just get across the river so we can solve a trade dispute or... Whatever it is we're doing here."
"What ssorts of thingss could causse thiss level of offense?" Chay asks, a reptilian of a million questions as he watches Aznara fly across the sky. He thumps his tail once, and offers a "Ssa, ssa!" as she gets to the other side.
The guide looks to Tirr and frowns some more, "I dunno what it is. I can't say I really wanna know ta be honest. Big." A nod of his head and then he looks up to watch Aznara. A raise of an eyebrow then a look to Granit.
He nods, "Yup." Fancy indeed.
It takes a bit of time put the group slowly starts to cross over from one side to the other. It's a process, but you all make it and without incident. Thanks to the quick thinking and the great acrobatics, the crossing was a non-issue.
"Whelp." The man says, scratching his chin through the beard, the guard considers Chay's question again, "Dunno." He finally says and sets out on the other side.
GAME: Chay rolls sense motive: (17)+9: 26
Granit does it conservatively, making sure he holds on with as many limbs as possible at any given time. He checks the perimeter on the far side, and gets ready to move out.
GAME: Bolide makes Aznara roll Survival:(6)+1: 7
GAME: Chay rolls survival+1: (18)+9+1: 28
GAME: Tirrynelth rolls survival: (3)+1: 4
GAME: Nasrin rolls survival: (5)+3: 8
GAME: Dubtle rolls Survival: (14)+2: 16
"You have lived here mosst of your life, sser. Perhapss you have ssome ideas?" the reptilian pushes, though lightly, as they go. "They have assked us to help, but you have a better grassp of your culture and itss people."
GAME: Granit rolls survival: (8)+11: 19
This time around it's not quite so simple. Chay definitely takes point at a number of places, staying up near the guide who is sort of looking sideways at the Sith-makar. A bit like saying, You're too observant for a lizard. But there is another nod of his head all the same. "Whelp... It could be lots of things is all. Means they probably are getting pushed from a different direction and so they might be trying to spread out toward the roads more, claim different territory."
The guide nods his head again and then moves them around some quicksand, continuing after another half hour or so, "Could be giralons or somethin'. Could be somethin' else. I don't know." He nods his head again, "Heard rumors though. Some flying thing that's been harassing folk." Another nod of his head and he continues onward. Granit manages to grab hold of Tirr before she walks straight into a snake, pulling her back just enough that she didn't meet it face-to-face. And Chay stopped Nasrin from stepping into something that looked suspiciously like quicksand, but the guide gave it a look and took a far wider birth around it than the last bit of quicksand.