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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Circus: The Story of the Kavetseki Incident (RPG)
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
We have yet to share all we know of why we were trapped. Everyone who can speak to that, must do so, or tell us that they know nothing. I do not want to use my arts to find out which of us is holding back truth, so speak now.
"What I know, you'll hear. What's being held back won't be by me. Your arts may be needed. But first, what I saw.
"Our contact was a smuggler. I've seen men like him before many a time. Might even have had to work with a few. Almost never in Ijzerhaven. Most stay clear of the main ports. Customs guards love to catch 'em, even when they work for the Duchy. No trader in that business has a clean record, and guards get noticed for catching rats. Runners stick to smaller harbors, slackwaters, hidden anchorages, then meet you in open water.
"This one…never seen him before. Wasn't the best. We got a name. That's enough to trace, if you know people. The best let you know nothing. Even under your charms, I couldn't tell you anything about the ones I met before. Ours had experience, but was sloppy. Law around here must tolerate them. He'd be more careful otherwise.
"Standard transaction otherwise. Cutter pulled alongside. Agent comes aboard. Nobody else with him. I stand next to him. Usual greetings. No funny business. Gives our elf a bag—might have been pay, might have been something to keep us quiet. He bows, wishes us well. Then into his ship, and off. After that…
"That's what I remember. Wonder what was in that bag. Wouldn't be the first smuggler to silence his customers."
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Antisocial Alto
Shipmate
# 13810
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Posted
“De Nemo, eh?” Aethelreda nodded to Mary and Gunriana. “The reason you haven't heard of him is he doesn't exist. Those vile Gasloughs travel under the name when it suits them and drop it when it gets too hot.”
She noticed the looks of incomprehension among the non-commercial party members. “The Gasloughs are a pack of filthy smugglers. They operate out of all the little towns along the coastline here. Every now and then the sheriff's men haul in some of the boat runners, but no one's ever been able to catch their top man. They're all related somehow, not all on the right side of the blanket, but they're disgustingly loyal to each other, and it's not often the sheriff can get a man inside to learn their secrets. I suppose it would be admirable if it weren't so maddening.
“They've cut into my father's wool trade for years. Bringing in stolen goods and dodging the excise men- they charge a low enough wholesale price that some of the poorer merchants buy from them almost exclusively. No decent house would touch them, but since the drought came on a few years ago there are plenty who are desperate enough to deal.
“...Or at least that's how it stood when we left. Who knows what's happened in the last twenty years?”
Posts: 601 | From: United States | Registered: Jun 2008
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
"Odd," Mary mused, "it was the same man who met us in Starkhaven, our posted port before Barvick, and on the cutter. Perhaps the one who met Dorainen was younger kin to the one we met? He told us to stop at Monhaut to pick up Dorainen before Barvick (not a usual stop for us but we got some fine mother-of-pearl there) and the excursion for the dive after Barvick but otherwise we could continue our planned route. Easy work though we had some doubts but salvage is not smuggling, not smuggling. In case of trouble we hired Jetse, all know the Canton men for loyalty and hard fighting, and the crew were also told to have weapons ready when we met the cutter. The Guild Bank in Starkhaven verified that the first payment was true gold in imperial ducats and the final payment to us looked good. I was counting it when the ..." She suddenly stopped unable to continue that part of the story.
"Why outsiders? I can understand hiring Dorainen as humans can't dive that deep without magical abilities. But why not a local fishing boat? The Duggar hasn't been fished since some blight banished the fish 20 no 40 years ago, but, the older locals know it, might even had known exactly where to find that hole. First mate Elric was the only one on our crew who knew these waters. Left as a lad some 55 years ago now, family quarrel and a bit of wanderlust, I believe, though Nicholas knows more. Nicholas..." with that she fell silent, lowered her eyes, and struggled to not cry.
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
The party are walking through a sparse wood, there is little undergrowth between the widely spaced trees, pigs must be grazed here. As it gets towards dusk, dappled light still makes its way between the trees.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Clawdine knew they were not alone in the wood, long before the others. But even in the diminishing light the lead party could now see the telltale signs that they were traversing wild pig territory. She stopped and bent down to retrieve something withered from a pile of ordure.
She wasn't hungry yet, but she was certainly not going to be dining off horsemeat when they did stop. Where there were pigs, there were usually wild sugar apples, cobnuts and cloudberries to be had.
Her eyes gleamed in the dusk at the thought of such bounty.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Er trudges through the wood, grateful for the lack of undergrowth to catch the travois. Looking around him he wonders if he can use his ***living off the land*** skills to find food to forage in the wood. Can he use his ***living off the land*** skills to tell whether this is cultivated land or wild woodland?
He has much to think about - he remembers being below deck playing cards before the ... the .. his brain hangs up in turmoil. How does this conversation add up? Were these smugglers the same people who sold those dodgy goods at fairs? Who can remember from those days? The names being bandied about don't sound familiar.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
Er reckons it would be ***easy*** to live off the land around here, though it would mean spending some time here - it is getting dark ...
[ 07. June 2014, 14:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
Dorainen yawned. It had been a long day. "Maybe we had best settle down for the night. It's probably safer to camp here than on the open road, anyway." (Caveat lector: dramatic irony has been known to attach itself to certain statements). "In the morning, I'd be happy to track and hunt some of that wild boar. But, for now, I might ask if someone else could keep watch. I must admit, I'm not used to travailing such distances solely by foot and I'm rather fatigued."
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
Gunriana considers carefully this new information.
“It seems to me that we have at least two forces at work. There is Arnulf, who brought us into this, and there is the one who … who … trapped us with sorcery. They are not the same. The sheer power needed to do what was done to us would be immense. Can we doubt that anyone able to wield strength like that was unable to call us a chest from the sea-bed? No, that power was unleashed by whoever was guarding it.
That was why we were involved. This Arnulf did not need your ship, Mistress Drake, nor even your talents, Dorainen, to recover the chest. We know that. He knew where it lay, and he, or someone working for him, had already recovered jewels which seem likely to have come from the same place. The only reason we were involved must be that he knew that to take it would provoke a curse on the taker, one that he could not avoid by superior power. Our true enemy is therefore a lesser force than the power behind our curse – which accords with the vision of our chief foe as a dwarf.
Then who is our foe? One of the Gadlough band, who perhaps looked into the wrong book that he had stolen or been paid to deliver? Our were the Gasloughs used as we were used? We can be assured of one thing – whatever was in that chest was worth taking extraordinary risks to find, and if a band of smugglers were given wealth and power of that degree, after twenty years they will be petty smugglers no more. Either they will have overreached themselves and been destroyed, or they will have risen greatly in status. If they were mere pawns, twenty years gives them an ignominious existence or an ignominious end. We should indeed make north to Cimenster. We should be able to learn in any major port what has happened to these smugglers.”
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Curious Kitten
Shipmate
# 11953
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Posted
Er blinks, "I fear you are confused good fellows. The road to either Barvick or Cimenster is to the East, assuming the passage of time has not changed this." He says. "As the Captin's wife states that North is to the left of us surely we should proceed forward with some haste.
"Although traveling in the dark is not well thought out none of us has any means of shelter nor are we sure of that our enemy is unaware of our escape. Maybe fires in the woods near our prison or sleep are similarly unwise?"
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Happiness is not having what we want but wanting what we have.
Posts: 107 | Registered: Oct 2006
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
'Er be right', Clawdine nodded. 'we shouldn't stop fer long in these parts.'
She didn't know whether the wood was a natural habitat for the pigs, or whether they belonged to some Lord who liked to hunt game here, but she did know that they had already passed several trees where the leaves had been piled invitingly around the base.
'Looks like pig-nests ter me,' Clawdine muttered to herself, 'and they'll be up with the moon ter forage.'
She shuffled forward and positioned herself closer to those in the party carrying knives.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Mary stumbled a bit in the dark, "But how far before we are safe? It little helps us to continue until we collapse and then get devoured by perfectly ordinary boar without the enemy or enemies ever being aware of us leaving. Perhaps the road would be a good point but is it half a day's journey or several days journey away?"
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Er dug deep in his memory. "It seems to me that we're about 5 miles from the road. We've been travelling for an hour now. If we keep up that pace, we should make the road in a couple of hours. What do you'm think? Should we try for the road now and camp there overnight?"
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
Gunriana is tired, and amongst the least strong of the group, but not inclined to admit weakness.
"I will sleep better for every step I take from that beach. I say we press on until we are at least in sight of the road, unless any one of us can go no further."
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Mary grunted and kept on. At least the woods was easier than the scrubland and sand before. She kept half an eye on Jetse, whether he was still in the ship's employ or not he was still partly her responsibility. When and how had he been wounded?
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Five miles to the road in the dark? They could try - although there was no guarantee the road would be any safer than the wood. Who owned the cartways in these parts? Clawdine pulled her tattered shawls tighter around her.
And were boar the only creature to be found in the shadows around them? What of the things that like to prey on pig?
Once upon a time she would have happily climbed a tree for a doze in the dark, but she suspected her tree-climbing days were over.
'I hopes yer right, Er. After two hourz most of uz'll be done in. Road or no road, we'll need a sup of summat and ter rest our bonez. We ain't az young az we uzed ter be!'
Clawdine cackled for a moment at her own joke. But as no-one else joined in, she soon lapsed back into a thoughtful silence, with only the steady turning of her head any indication that she was using her old eyes as keenly as possible in the gloom.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
"Not next to the road. Thieves and brigands wait there. Here? Maybe just pigs. Maybe not, though. Too exposed. We can see, yes; also be seen. Could work if some of us kept watch. Hide. Let them underestimate us. Undercount.
"Those trees would provide cover. Two of us have bows. They should watch from above. Those who can climb can join them. I'll be first."
Jetse noticed the looks he got at that last statement.
"You think I cannot? A man with one hand, climbing? You think I haven't before? Never lost limbs, never fought on ships, underground? These trees will be easy. They're still. They don't want me dead."
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
Daniel says, five miles in two hours doesn't sound too difficult, but may I remind people that some of us are not as young as we used to be.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
The party seemed intent on heading east, away from that beach in the fastest way possible not even wanting to stop as Jetse suggested. Not a person spoke. Mary stumbled, the dark, her new old body, she didn't like this wood, were they in a different trap?
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne follows the group. She is feeling more alert since they have left the beach, but the mystery of Jack's despair weighs on her. She listens to the discussion about which way to go, and where to stop for the night and wonders if she can ***intuit*** which would be the better choice, or indeed whether or not it matters at all.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
" These trees will be easy. They're still. They don't want me dead."
Clawdine smiled wryly in the dark, and muttered in Jetse's direction 'O, don't they, indeed? I wouldne be so sure 'bout that...'
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne has been puzzled by much of the talk in the woods, but once she starts to review it in her mind and set it in order, she finds it ***easy*** to come to a strong intuition of the right choice.
"Hai!" calls Frithwynne, softly, to the travelers closest to her. She is afraid to call too loudly in the hush of the woods, but she must communicate her sense and hope that they will believe her.
"My sense is that we should push on to the road, as fast as we may. Consider the reverend mother's vision from holy inspiration, which the Lady Gunriana also told for us as a true vision. So we should trust it.
"Mother of rivers weeping was our gooddame Clawdine, Lady Gunriana said, in her telling of Mother Aethelreda's vision.
"And the next part of the vision, walking in a woods -- well here we are. And I think we are passing through a grove of alders now.
"Next is the caravan of wagons on a road heading north. The sooner to the road, the more chance of meeting whatever caravan Mother Aethelreda has seen in her vision. And a caravan, whether the caravan of the vision or not, will likely have guards and offer additional protection from brigands. I think we are a large party to ask our Guardian Jetse to defend all of us alone, and brigands will be less likely to attack a caravan at all.
"In the woods our only choices are neutral -- no attack -- or bad -- brigands. At the road we add also a good possible outcome -- meeting a caravan. Better to keep going forwards to the road to meet possibility of good in our future, than tarrying here in the woods overlong.
"When we sight the caravan, we will need to have thought of a way to approach them so as not to cause alarm, and once having approached them, we will need to persuade them to let us join. I think between us we surely can share our knowledge and gifts to accomplish this.
"I do not know if you would credit the word of a small shepherd las- woman in this," (Frithwynne suddenly faces the fact that after the magic of the beach, she is a lass no more, although she fears she has not the wisdom of the women of her current age that she knew as a child) "but I pray that you will."
Frithwynne picks up her own pace, and starts to pass towards the front of the line of travellers, repeating her message to each small group as she passes.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
By the time the party reach the edge of the woods, the moon is fully risen, they can see the curve of the road in the distance, and some moving lights - perhaps lanterns on the wagons, or perhaps lanterns being carried ?
[ 08. June 2014, 23:57: Message edited by: Doublethink ]
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne is relieved to see the signs that they are nearly at the road. She had passed to the front of the line of travelers, and tried to press the pace, hoping that she could speed the group through physical example, in case they didn't heed her words. And here they are, at last.
As she walked, she had considered the travelers.
Mary Drake, captain's wife, captain now, if they were still on board ship.
The Lady Gunriana, noble in bearing and in words.
Mother Aethelreda, somewhat of a mystery to Frithwynne. She seems not quite like the few nuns she met in her youth in the village, come to trade for wool for the convent, but Frithwynne can't place the difference.
Er Maker, pulling the travois, handy and confident even in this wilderness.
Daniel Van Adescant, who has been very quiet, both in Frithwynne's memory on board ship, and now on the beach and in the woods, although Frithwynne recalls traces of a quicksilver wit on board ship. She wonders if she had ever met him before; he gives her a sense of déja vu.
The doctor, John Goode, a good healing man, although fond of gambling if Frithwynne judges the nights John and Jack spent together on deck aright. Although Frithwynne has picked up Jack's cards and dice, she's suspicious of gambling. She has seen men enjoying themselves pleasantly in the tavern, and she has also seen men ruined at the tavern, by any or all of the vices to be found there.
Guardian Jetse Vos, a strong fighting man, and seemingly still strong, despite the twenty years age and the loss of an arm.
The elf Dorainen, a source of great wonder for Frithwynne, who had never met an elf before coming on board the Ka... the ship.
Jack Gallows who was gone. Frithwynne had touched the tricorn briefly, in valedictory. Jack wouldn't thank her for drawing his soul into the woods from the sea where it sought release, Frithwynne had thought, so she had traced the sign for release on the brim of the hat, and turned her hand face up towards the alders they were passing by. "Go in Peace, Seigneur Gallows," she had murmured.
Herself, for whom she hopes only that the party will find her useful to keep around. Now that there is no wool or horse to be tended, she wonders what skill she can show the group that will lead them to think her worth sharing their protection and their food.
Clawdine, perhaps similarly lost. And yet Clawdine, mother of rivers, Lady Gunriana had declared, in her telling of Mother Aethelreda's vision. That spoke of powers the group would surely find worth keeping, to say nothing of Clawdine's practical skills.
[ 09. June 2014, 00:07: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne finds two particular members of the group, and addresses them:
"Er Maker, Doctor Goode. Here is the road, and I hope the caravan. The next part of the vision is dwarf looking at dice on the ground in bemusement. I do not know when we will meet this dwarf, but apparently it will be before we reach the gates of a town, and thus it may be soon, depending on how far we are from Cimenster. I have no skill at dice, nor charm to persuade anyone to play with me, much less one of the inscrutable dwarves, but I think one of you may have talents in this wise. May I give Seigneur Gallows' dice to one of you, to use when we meet this dwarf? I do not know how much time we will have in this visioned meeting, and whether we will need to proceed quickly, nor indeed whether it will be the dwarf's dice or our own which are thrown. But I think it well for us to be prepared."
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Mary listened to Frithwynne's words and felt hope rising, but, they had only a short time to make decisions before the caravan in the distance arrived.
"Prepared indeed"
"We must stay together and protect each other. Let us pool our talents especially considering we look like a band of beggars, and make the best offer we can to the caravan approaching." She paused, "If it is wise to join; it is odd they choose to move at night even under a full moon. We also need to judge whether it is safe. I also suspect it is not wise to mention the curse that touched us for that would cause them to avoid us in case the curse touch them or gossip which means our enemy or enemies might hear. Shall we have been on a different ship from some distant port? Perhaps Falstine since I know ...knew it well though it is not home. Perhaps one of those favored by the gods or with talent" She looked at Clawdine, Aethelreda, and Gunriana, "can give a name to our fictional ship that will give us favor."
"My own talents offer little I fear. I can feel north but that is little needed on a road like this though it is valued in the slave markets of some ports." She paused in memory of a cousin with the same talent who had vanished. "I can do a fair bit of rope work and accounting, I even still have my writing box though no paper."
"We should also decide who should speak for us, Er has a silver tongue, I've noticed. What say you all?"
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne speaks quickly, before her boldness that led her to speak at such length on the road leaves her.
"Mistress Drake, for my own skills, I think I have little special to contribute to the approaching and joining of caravans. At times I have flashes of intuition that I have learned to trust; perhaps one such will come to me later. Since leaving the beach, my hearing seems more acute, and perhaps we will need to hear things on the caravan, or once we come to Cimenster, and I can be of service then.
"For other skills, I can navigate, little twisty mazes of passages all alike even, but our path and the road seem straight for now. I can fight with improvised weapons if needed, but I hope such will not be needed; my parents named me to have no great love for fighting. I can command animals, in case perchance we find a flock of sheep that needs droving, or other beasts." Frithwynne smiles wryly at the forlorn thought that the band would meet something as simple and homey as a flock of sheep. "And I have some small ability at climbing, though I am too weak to be very useful at it.
"All these I put at the service of our band."
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
"Sooner or later, all our skills may be needed, Frithwynne," Mary replied. "Sooner I suspect for you. Your skill in animals will be a useful bargaining chip as it lends itself to mules or horses or oxen for surely the caravan is using many such animals unless they have some great wizardry. I know you can handle horses."
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
"I would not volunteer myself to talk to these strangers. I still don't understand human ways well enough to pull off a negotiation like this," sighed Dorainen.
"But," he added, "please do offer my services as a healer if someone in the caravan is in need of that. My skill with a bow may also be of help in the defense of the caravan. Or, I could try to repair any of their broken equipment once it gets light enough for me to be able to see what I'm doing."
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
"And offer my skills as well, if they would be of use for bargaining, or purely for kindness."
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne is in the middle of a reverie on the possible meaning of a stone table, on it a crudely carved model of a boat is half buried in rock salt, when she remembers something.
"Mistress, I forgot: I also have skill at finding hidden things."
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
quote:
"Mistress, I forgot: I also have skill at finding hidden things."
"Frithwynne, A valuable skill indeed but not one to advertise yet; its rarity will attract the greedy. We know not whether slavery is still abolished in Cimenster except for criminals; the de Morgans had fought for that as their ancestors had been slaves but many of the great families oppose them or so our de Morgan passenger told us. We must learn what we can without revealing we know nothing of what has happened in the last 20 years."
Mary paused and looked at Dorainen and Dr. Goode, "Healing is valuable also but not so rare unless exceptional in some way. Dorainen, I know nothing of the attitudes of locals towards Elves then or now, but, humans can be fearful of the unusual and lone elves have sometimes suffered. Nicholas and I had promised ourselves though we had not told you yet directly to return you to Monhaut on our return from Cimenster or to allow you to journey with us as long as you wished but that was when we, I had a ship and status to make our protection worth something." Turning to the others she asked, "Does anyone know how the people here view the other races? Whether elf or dwarf."
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Clawdine stood with her hands on her hips watching the approaching lanterns.
'Bargain with 'em, will yer? Yer gotta 'ave summat they wantz.
I reckon I could 'elp. O'course, it'll cozt yer a compliment, and themz awful rare theze days.'
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Curious Kitten
Shipmate
# 11953
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Posted
Er says, "Like as not I'll know someone in the caravan." He'd always had the ***morals of a cat***, and made friends wherever he went, but perhaps not in a way that would be approved of by all his party. "With my tinkering, the meat and others' healing talents and maybe I think with my ***silver tongue*** I can talk us into the caravan. Though we will need to come up with a consistent story of where we've been for 20 years. Where would we have been travelling? We could have been shipwrecked recently to explain the loss of the boat and our things."
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Happiness is not having what we want but wanting what we have.
Posts: 107 | Registered: Oct 2006
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Yorick
Infinite Jester
# 12169
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Posted
John Goode spoke softly to Frithwynne as they picked their way down the wooded slope towards the road. ‘I will take Jack’s dice. He took good coin from me before I realised how, and I eventually persuaded him to show me the way to throw the loaded die. It is an artful trick, and I will need a little time to practice’.
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این نیز بگذرد
Posts: 7574 | From: Natural Sources | Registered: Dec 2006
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
“As it seems neither prudent nor possible to tell the full story of what happened to us, I suggest we agree on a tale.”
Gunriana lets her imagination work for a moment. It must be plausible, interesting enough to appeal, but not so noteworthy that it will be repeated, unfortunate enough to provoke sympathy, but not so tragic as to raise passions, and account for the unusual predicament of the party.
“We were all passengers on Seahorse, out of, well, there’s no reason why we should all have taken note of that. Some of us might think Barvick, others Monhaut, and the rest be unsure. There must be a dozen or more ‘Seahorses’ out of any port you can name, so none to say we lie.
She ran aground on the Manacle. Most sailors will credit that easily enough, though they may well mock the seamanship of those responsible. The captain, Makrith Nemo (why not?), thought to lighten the ship and float off on the tide, and transferred his passengers and cargo to boats and rafts while his men worked. Alas for us, his rope-craft was as poor as his navigation, and sorry to say the cable broke, and our raft went adrift. We were down-wind of Seahorse and when noticed our plight, too far away for voice to carry. We drifted for a day and a night, and washed up five or six miles to the south-west, with nothing left of our baggage but what we could carry. All of it was on another boat, so there’s no salvage to tempt anyone to make the trip west. We were bound for Cimenster, and are heading there now by the road. Some of us have friends there who will supply us, but we’ll gladly work for what food and supplies these travellers can give us.
It will raise a smile at our misfortune, but I hope no questions we cannot answer. And any we meet who know of the Gasloughs may notice the name Nemo, and perhaps suggest we were cut loose by design. Remember, though, that our ‘yesterday’ was twenty years ago. We do not know what the weather was along this coast a few days ago. Best not to give that detail unless they give a clue to the truth. If asked, it’d be safe enough to talk of rough waves and stinging spray, though – landsmen will complain of those in a dead calm.”
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne drops the dice into the doctor's palm.
"Take them, and good rolling to you."
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Clawdine stood with her hands on her hips watching the approaching lanterns.
'Bargain with 'em, will yer? Yer gotta 'ave summat they wantz.
I reckon I could 'elp. O'course, it'll cozt yer a compliment, and themz awful rare theze days.'
"Clawdine, what a wonderful idea! As are all of your ideas, quite wonderful!" Exclaimed Dorainen, entirely innocent of what effect his compliment would have.
quote:
Dorainen, I know nothing of the attitudes of locals towards Elves then or now, but, humans can be fearful of the unusual and lone elves have sometimes suffered.
"Unfortunately, I know that both from book study and experience. These days (well, twenty years ago at least), few humans will confess to prejudice against elves but it lingers still. Of course, like humans, I have encountered humans who have no particular ill will to our kind, but are simply looking for a way to profit honest or otherwise and consider us easy targets for schemes. My knife skills have always been good enough to protect myself from simple thieves so far, but those who seek to rob me by subtle fraud have had more success.
"The biggest problems can come from the well-intentioned. There are then those who let curiosity drive manners from their memory. Others are so keen to 'make allowances' for weaknesses common to my kind that I feel perpetually patronized. There are humans who are fascinated by my kind, which has led to a thriving blackmarket in kidnap and slavery. Cimenster was never a center for that, but who knows how times have changed in the last twenty years?
"It is now three generations between the shameful public dissections of elves for human entertainment. This has long been illegal in every human town I know, but the memory lives on."
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Mary considers Gunriana's advice then gives a brief laugh. "Seahorse is good especially since it is what Kavetseki means in the Agyar tongue; correct enough to perhaps fool a truth teller if they have one. I think I should not be described as the captain's wife and should probably use my pre-marriage name of Hawser if full names must be given. The name of Drake is known to the gang and would be associated with the disappearance of the ship if any story is out about that, so truth but not the full truth." She continued after a moment, "The name of Dorainen is also known to the gang and if any would be expected to survive it would be a water elf though after 20 years they may cease to worry and they may never have cared since as you remind us some consider your kin 'simple'."
[ 09. June 2014, 13:37: Message edited by: Net Spinster ]
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
"Miss Hawser," said Dorainen (practicing), "'Dorainen' is a very common name amongst my kind. Dorainen the Great was not the first elf who was able to breath underwater, but the first who was able to pass this skill on to all his descendants and had enough descendants to start a dynasty. In a gathering of water elves, I rarely find myself the only Dorainen in the stream. Besides, I look entirely the wrong age to have been ship-wrecked twenty winters ago."
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Antisocial Alto
Shipmate
# 13810
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Posted
"I had better not try and talk with them much," Aethelreda pointed out, "since I have a sharp tongue and little tact. I might offend someone and make them exclude us. However if any of my skills are of use, I would be happy to help.
"I could offer to sing, or play an instrument if they have one, or I could offer prayers for their sick. It seems unlikely that they should have any bees, but perhaps I could help with any trading or purchasing we do. And if it comes to a fight I can attack unexpectedly. My weapons are small and easily overlooked."
Posts: 601 | From: United States | Registered: Jun 2008
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Er thought the party must have nearly reached the road. Judging distances was harder with his sore feet and shoulders from the travois. His aching muscles were certainly reminding him that he had not been walking for some time (was it really twenty years?) particularly not hauling goods.
"When we'm reaches the road, if there b'ain't be no lights in sight, how'm 'bout we lights a fire and cooks some of this meat? Will be easier for a caravan to see us'm with a fire."
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
Quartzbearer was unimpressed at getting the nightshift, always the fate of the subordinates he supposed, but really - you'd think they'd want the most experienced dwarves at the most vulnerable times. On the other hand, he thought, suddenly struck with a pleasant new idea - perhaps it was a sign of trust ?
After all, who would put an unreliable guard at the front of a trade caravan at night - at which point, he was distracted from his musings by movement up ahead to the left.
He whistled the signal to stop, and peered ahead into the gloom, his hand moving to his sword hilt.
[ 09. June 2014, 20:02: Message edited by: Doublethink ]
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Er is roused from his hypnotic head down trudging as he is abruptly halted by whoever is in front of him stopping suddenly. At the same time he is poked in the shoulder (sore muscle, ow) by another of his companions. Looking up to work out who he should apologise to he sees the lights ahead and thinks, well that saves us from building a fire. I wonder if anywhere in my previous existence, living with ***the morals of an alleycat*** I have known anyone here.
"Greetings good fellows all," he calls out as disarmingly as he can, "we have meat and firewood we can barter for safe passage north with thee, if that would please thee? Happen you're heading for Cimester? I'm Er Maker should anyone remember me from last time I was around these parts."
[ 09. June 2014, 20:22: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
The years fell from Clawdine like a brideshift at Dorainen's words.
Young, blonde and naked, she pushed past Er to stand before the dwarf.
She bent forward slightly and looked full into his bulging eyes.
'You need to rescue us,' she murmured hypnotically, 'and treat us well, for we will be valuable to your master.'
Then she threw back her head and clapped her hands at the same time. An echoing thunderclap overhead heralded a small downpour over Er and his travois, so that he and the horsemeat became sodden. The others, behind Er, saw little in the dark, except the Clawdine they knew striding towards them,grey hair dripping wet, and chuckling to herself.
The dwarf shook his head dazedly, before beckoning to Er, Mary and Gunriana to come closer.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
Having shone his light upon some of the survivors, Quartzbearer goes to consult. He returns with a grizzled dwarf veteran, and a human wagoneer.
Hewer nods to Er, she turns to the wagoneer, "Er I know from my foolish youth - the rest, I can not speak for Master Trepik - but Er maybe useful, canny with his hands as I remember."
(There seemed to be a fleeting expression of pleasure on Hewer's face as she recalled Er.)
Trepik crosses his arms, "So wanderers, what do you want from me and how shall I be assured I shall not regret our meeting ?"
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Er Maker is feeling disgruntled and wet and wonders whether his moral compass allows him to jump aboard and leave the other members of the party behind, leaving them to sort out the sodden meat and firewood.
The faces of the party flicker through his mind. He owes Mary Drake for the passage, and the lamented Jack, Dr Goode and Daniel were his fellow journeyers, the nun and shepherd lass are good people, Jetse is injured but still looks good for a fight, the sea witch, Gunriana, might curse him if he doesn't help her out and he has no desire to tangle with the sorcery of the water again, which means he should favour the water elf too.
"I'm so pleased to see you again Hewer, you bring such good times to mind.
"Greetings, go sir. As you can see, I travel with a few companions. We were cast ashore and have lost much, and are making our way to Cimester. We can offer our skills, several of or party have healing skills."
[ 09. June 2014, 21:29: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Frithwynne blinked, several times. Were hallucinations a mark of middle-age? She was sure she had just seen a beautiful naked girl, but almost as soon as she had registered the apparition, it resolved itself and she realized it was simply Clawdine. Unnerved, she stood for a few minutes hugging herself and shivering even in the warm night air. Then she crept forwards cautiously, to stand still and silent just outside the circle of lantern-light, watching and listening.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
Mary thought now the net was cast and sped a brief silent prayer to Volos to aid Er. The sudden shower made her realize how threadbare here clothes had got and she wondered if her eyesight was also going or perhaps the dwarves were using some magic of their own.
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
As soon as he realized it was dwarves they were dealing with, Dorainen put his hood up to cover his ears and cast shadows over his facial features. If they hadn't noticed anything, in this darkness they may not until they had already agreed to take the party into their caravan.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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