NationStates Jolt Archive

“What a wench!” Valandil Eärfalas swore as he was thrown not so gently out of the doors of the inn. Contrary to popular belief about the elvin grace, some elfs did have their moments of clumsiness. Sadly for our hero he was amongst this somewhat rare ‘species’.

“Bloody woman, it’s not my fault that I tripped and ended up destroying her whole kitchen” he continued, destroying yet another mith about elfs. Not all of them had a courteous behavior and gallant speech. “What am I going to do now,” the elf whimpered, finally calming down.

This would probably seem for many as a somewhat rare, but normally acceptable occurrence in the every day workings of a land, however, such was not the case with our hero. He was dangerously close to the borders of Silandra and it was a known fact that there was danger lurking in the air. He lacked the pass needed to protect himself and he highly doubted he’d be able to get one soon so staying in the area didn’t seem like a good idea at the moment.

“What to do, what to do,” he asked himself, wandering around the city, despite knowing that it wasn’t such a good idea. It was only when he collided with someone that he snapped out of his reverie. “Hey, watch… it,” he gulped as he realized just who he collided with. On the ground in front of him was a woman wearing the insignia of the Human Empire and she didn’t look happy, not at all.

“What do you say elf?” the woman replied, a bit of venom dripping in her voice. “Do you perhaps have a death wish that you wanted to express?”

“No, no, no…” the elf replied, while trying to back away slightly. ‘That’s it, I’m done for, many have been killed for less!’ he thought to himself, already panicking. It was then that the woman noticed the badge he wore at his belt.

“Tell me elf, are you a scholar? Answer this question and I may spare your life,” she stated in what seemed to be a casual tone for her.

“Y… Yee..sss” came the trembling reply.

“Good. I suppose you’re familiar with the languages of the people?”

“Yes,” the elf replied again, this time with a bit more calm.

“Very well, you shall assist me on my mission then. I trust you have no other arrangements to attend to?” she stated more than asking, a dangerous glint in her eye.

“No, I’m all at your disposal,” the elf hurried to reassure her, knowing that even if he did have any arrangements this was the only viable answer.

“Good. We leave tomorrow. I’ll expect you here in the morning.”


OOC: Feel free to bring characters to the play if you already subscribed to the RP. This is taking place in a city near the borders of the Silandrian Kingdom so be careful about what species you get in the town, also I need someone to volunteer as the target of this mission.

Remember, this is mostly focused on characters with nuances and background information from the countries in which they travel.

OOC thread HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=535037)

The thick woods were silent but for the sound of various insects, though Griznak could sense several animals either bedding down for the night or rousing themselves for a brisk night's hunt and sport. If they could sense him was debatable-the Muri may have been the size of bears, but they prided themselves on their hunting prowess and stealth. If they could sense him, they also sensed he wasn't hungry, for there was no trepidition on their part.
He cared not-he was waiting for his familiar spirit to return to it's mask, hung on his spear.
He could sense it approaching-though quite young, he was still a shaman with a shaman's Second Sight. It was a bolongo, a translator-spirit without tact or sense, quite unsuited for the work he assigned it, but he could only take one spirit with him on this quest, and a translator would be most useful. Besides, he could always acquire more on the trip.
The mask began to speak in the hoots, clacks, and whistles of Shadowspeech as the bolongo entered it. "There a quite charming dryad not three groves over who is MOST interested in Muri settlement rituals." it reported.
Griznak hissed in annoyance. "Not my purpose, nor yours, treacher--are any of the pink food about-the ones clad in metal?"
"In the built caves there is much pink food-some of them clad as you request." It answered spitefully, desiring as was it's nature to twist all communications to chaos. "Shall I call them for you?"
"Kaa-shall you scream like a female or a child to bring them, false one?" the young shaman had been warned of the bolongo's tricks, and had long since grown weary of them. "Your only words to the pink food will be mine, spoken in their language--so swear by the Styx."
It hesitated until Griznak brought his full will against it and repeated:"Swear by the Styx."
The mask grimaced and spat out an oath. "I so swear--by the Eternal Styx, my only words to the pink food will be yours, spoke in their degenerate tongue."
"Let us pray my mentor in the ways of the pink food was accurate." Griznak uttered a brief supplication to the goddess of mercy and crept closer.
A stream of stones lead to two small wooden caves with a metal grate between them. Large pink food stood before the wood caves, pikes at the ready.
Griznak stepped out of the woods. At his appearance, the pink food readied their weaponry. Slowly, so they could see, he removed the head of his own spear and sheathed it at his waist, then planted the haft before him. As they watched curiously, he spread the iridescent hide of a water serpent before him and placed what was left of the day's hunt upon it-two small wyverns, perhaps the size of a large goose each and a haunch of giant mantis. "Eat this instead of me, and as you eat we shall converse." he said in impeccable Shadowspeech, hands spread in gestures of offering and peace.
The bolongo translated:"Chew on this maggots while I yap at you!"

OOC: i HAVE a 2 possible targets for you if you want them. One is the queen in which would result in war between our nations. Another one is a scientist named Narg, who is currently worrking on a new alloy fire steel, which is a encahnted metal that burns your enemy as well as hurts them like normal steel, its also self cleaning for convience. And another is the queens daughter lorana

Elendil Beowulf made his rounds of the castle. He was the queens captain on the Golden paladins therefore he had the most responsiblity. He also had to protect the next heir to the throne the princess lorana, which was'nt a bad job at all. In fact he kinda had a thing for her.

In the forests of galorn Avionus the ranger raced from tree to tree. He was hunting a rouge set of Riders. They had rebelled after a dispute at a outpost in the north but that was'nt his problem. He caught up to them... they where camped out in a clearing, judging by the amount of horses there where about 12 riders. From his tree he whislted a bird call to the other rangers.. with in moments his second in command ragnar the half elf was by his side. "Our men are in position sir waiting for the order." said ragnar "Avionus looked at his lutenat and said "Lets do it" With a shout he jumped down from his tree and caught a guard by suprise and beheaded him with his long sword. Two other Elves joined him and they fought of more troops while the others in the trees shot arrows from there oaken long bows. The day was theres.

Scurrying about and hiding in the shadows like a common animal was not Urida's idea of what an advisor for the royal family should be forced to do, but she had no intention of having to explain to the princess why it was that she had been incapable of attaining the information that she sought. This job should have gone to Hedath, a member of the military, but he was a human and therefore much to large for eavesdropping.

"Good. We leave tomorrow. I'll expect you here in the morning."

It had been chance that had allowed her to hear most of the conversation. Having watched the elf run into the woman, Hedath had been concerned for the elf's safety, but had then noted that her manner toward the elf, while still hostile, had suddenly changed. Curious, Hedath had sent her to listen to the conversation. Urida would not have agreed if it weren't for the fact that they weren't sure what the princess wanted them to look for, and that such sudden changes of manner suggested that something important was occurring.
Urida remembered the princess' instructions. I have this feeling that something important regarding Silandra is about to occur. Go toward Silandra and see if you can ascertain what it is. Try not to enter Silandra itself if you can. The princess' hunches were generally correct, and perhaps this mission that the woman mentioned was what the princess had felt was about to happen. She had not heard all of what little conversation had occurred, but she felt she could tell Hedath everything important - elf for languages, woman on a mission, and they would meet here tomorrow. Judging from the elf's belt, he was probably a scholar. Perhaps that was what had saved him from the woman's wrath. It hardly mattered - she just needed to wait until the two parted so that she could return to Hedath and tell him what she had heard.

OOC: Urida is a feline general advisor to the royal family, Hedath is a human bodyguard (just to clear up which part of the military he belongs to).

Avionus was Sent on a recon mission to the Borders of Silandra, he was under orders from the queen to check for an army or anything supicious. The queen being a elf was in tune with the world and she sensed that something terrible was about to occur that would involve the two great nations of our conteniant.
He from his hiding place saw nothing sucpicious untill a human crawled into the bushes near by. Avionus cast on his cloak of invisiblity and waited, then he saw what the human was looking for. Using his gift from the queen, a enchanted one use brooch which would heighten one of your senses for a time of about 5 minutes. He listened in on the conversation between the Elvish scholar and the human. He wished to kill to woman to free the Elf but he was under orders not to engage unless he himself was engaged. It seemed they were going to meet at the same spot tomorrow. But for tonight he wrote a report to the queen conserning the following conversation.

Urida found herself distracted when she heard a noise nearby. What else was there? She looked in the direction she heard the noise from and saw another male elf, who seemed to be listening to the same conversation. Was the elf scholar a set up? Or was this eavesdropping elf there for similar reasons as herself? Perhaps it would be good for her to converse with this elf once the Silandran woman and elven scholar parted company - after all, Hedath was still able to see her even if he could not listen, so her life wouldn't be in any serious danger. Besides, the elf might have seen her and intend to speak to her anyway.

Unknown to the ones listening in to the conversation between the elf and the woman they were closely followed by several pairs of eyes.

"Feh, she missed them, how blind do you have to be?" one man whispered to his companions, playing around with what seemed to be a pet demon.

"Don't believe all things are as they seem," another replied, focusing on the ones who were listening to the conversation. "remember, it's her initiation test, we are not to make an opinion until the very end."

"Still, why can't we nick them, nobody would feel a thing," the man replied, almost pleading to be allowed to kill the non-humans.

"No, and stop asking. We can't interfere unless she fails or succeeds."

"Oh! Come one, I need to get some action."

"Matheus, I'm telling you that.."

"Enough," a third man interrupted their 'argument'. "We will abide by protocol."

"Yes sir," both men replied.

---

As the men were keeping track of everything that was happening, the woman was heading towards her inn. She had felt something odd while she talked to that elf, but for now she just couldn't figure what it was.

OOC: Invisibility cloak? I'll need to know how it works. It is possible, but they have to fit in the magic available.

Hadeth smiled. It seemed he would not have to interfere with these three men, or allow them to be aware of his presence yet. Still, if they had noticed Urida, it was possible that someone was watching him. Fortunately, being human would give him considerable protection around Silandra, even if he was an Oxymoonan. What disturbed him was that the three had figured out that Urida was not an ordinary housecat who just happened to be there. Either she had done something too human-like, or someone was using magic. The latter was more likely.

An invisibility cloak is woven from the silk strands of the shadow spider. A dangoures creature who can only be tamed by the most skilled of beast masters. The silk itself is not completly transparent and only offers partail invisiblity, and invisiblity cloak once put togheter is enchanted with a beastmasters camoplage technique (a spell they picked up from binding with lizards.). Then the cloak offers full inivisiblity, but the cloak must be contiuously recharge, as elvish invisiblity cloaks do not last more then 5 hours worth of charge.

Avionus camped out in the surronding area posing as a globetroter i hopes of seeing all the coninent before another war starts. He was to wait, by order of the queen, until those two had another meeting.

Jonopel was standing at the gates together with a couple other guards. It was a painfully boring job his skill with a pike had gotten him but this was the best way to keep an eye on who comes and goes. As he stood there daydreaming about his home among the Netherguards far away in the Li'rai empire a large troll emerged from the woods.

Jonopel's face shone with excitement, a troll here and it even has a possessed mask! Finally something interesting. He almost got carried away and replied to the troll in shadowspeech but realized just in time that it would blow his cover as a short but very sturdy human and expose him as a leknar, necromancer and spy.

Instead he put the put the nonchalant face back on and turned to the other guards. They looked like the troll was the most hideous thing they had ever seen, as could be expected from Silandrians. When the commandant started raising his horn to sound the alarm Jonopel couldn't resist protesting "Wait chief, let's hear what a stupid troll could possibly have to say before we scare it away."

OOC: The 2 spies the Netherguards have stationed in town to keep an eye on Silandra are expendable, you may use them as targets if you wish.

The pink food watched, but moved no closer. Griznak considered them impassively, then spoke."It is to my understanding that one requires words-that-stay to traverse your built caves. May I inquire as to how one obtains such?"
The bolongo translated:"How do you get travel papers in this cockamamie burg?"
The guards bristled at that and readied their weapons. Griznak glared at the mask, and chided it."Translate properly or I'll--"
"I'm only repeating what you said." it innocently protested. "I can't help it if they don't like trolls."
*How could anyone not like a troll?* Griznak thought, then remembering:*We do not come here, but if a Mother came and ate much of the pink food....*
In his pack he carried a shiny yellow stone the size of a horse's skull. He was told the spirit of the stone held great power over the pink food, and he must be sparing in it's use. Sticking his head in his pack, he bit off a piece of the stone about the size of a small apple and spit it in his hand, then placed it on the water serpent hide between the small wyverns and mantis haunch. "If this may help, I will also swear not to eat pink food in your lands nor to draw weapons save in self-defense..."
The bolongo translated:"There's some gold-he won't eat your people or attack them unless attacked first, so make with the goods."
The guards stared. "That's a month's pay if it's pure..."
The captain set down his horn and stared at the lump of gold. "That's the fee he's offering for travel papers?"
The bolongo spoke to Griznak:"Too much-their greed is palpable."
"Kaa-well, first time I ever used it." Griznak shrugged. "There are three-between them I thought it adequate. It is imperative I find the outlanders who will lead me to Korasting."
Jonopel bristled at that-Korasting, the fabled Mother of Many, lost when the sun was kindled. The trolls were an Elder Race and largely self-sufficient. One seeking Korasting implied--well, it implied lots of things, many of which could change the face of Ouroboros.
The gold had placated the captain largely-doubtless he'd pocket much of it-and he was shuffling through papers preparing to fill out travel documents for his massive new friend.

Jonopel was still stuck guarding the gate for several hours after the troll had passed into the city. He felt impatient and restless for the rest of his shift. A chaotic flurry of so many thoughts flew around in his mind. He must be one of the first non trolls to know about this. He kept thinking of countless speculations about what this could lead to. If they could find a way for the Netherguards to take advantage of the situation they would surely be pardoned for their gruesome mistake and welcomed home from this remote posting as heroes.

When his shift was over he walked quickly through narrow alleys past the occasional pile of garbage or cat hunting the rats that fed on the garbage and arrived at the room his partner Kelermak was renting to discuss the issue. In this case "discuss" meant a long and heated debate on what the best course of action would be. The language grew more colorful as the debate went on and the topic shifted to which one of them was less cunning then a rock. When the light of day began to fade away they finally decided it was now too late to do anything today and Jonopel made his way home to his own room muttering about having to work with that stubborn stonebrain.

Griznak found the pink food tiresome-Yelm, who was the sun, was never kindly to trolls, though far kinder to the Muri than their cousins, and the pink food insisted on it's own importance and (by implication) Griznak's inferiority. He soon learned that yawning brought them around to his way of thinking, and they would acquiese to his desires with minimal argument after such a display.
His papers claimed him to be a travelling merchant, and brought with them a few days' rental of stall space in the marketplace. He decided to offer healing and purging of disease spirits-his Shaman's Sight showed a plethora milling in the streets-as well as a few trinkets and gewgaws he'd brought for barter, perhaps generating a fetish or two of minor use until he had a collection of the small disks the pink food seemed to value.
The built caves were made for smaller creatures than him, but he was able to obtain sleeping quarters with the pack animals for a small pebble as red as blood which made the pink food's eyes bulge and brought a promise of food and drink he refused. The night was the time for trolls, and he wanted to hunt while the crickets were at their loudest until the time of summons was upon him.
The pink food let wild beasts roam their streets in packs, and Griznak sated his hunger with a small pack scavenging the pink food's refuse. Hunting among the built caves was only different in that some choice prey had to be ignored, but Griznak prided himself on his discernment in such matters. His activities went unnoted by the pink food until he returned to his quarters, such as they were.
The main chamber of the built cave where he obtained quarters was still active with the doings of the pink food, so he entered and found himself a quiet corner to observe. His vision had brought him to this realm, and now he had to see why. Or hear-the bolongo could translate any phrase he heard with his acute troll hearing into a civilized tongue. Someone here might give him a clue as to his next action.

It had been a good season. The consecutive crops surplus production would be the best reason for the young Tlatoani Lieli to send merchant/exploring crews to the continent in the south.
The country had grown inland steadily, but now that expanding their trading horizon was a common feeling among the Lirtadarians, they all naturally looked away to the seas.
The elders in the counsil where not thrilled by the idea of risking young lirtadarians to encounter other peoples. Only Quetzaly new what kind of barbaric "fair trade" concept they would have, but then again, what where they suposed to do with all the production suplus?

Captain Maices and his ship had just arrived to Iztolon, the main coastal city and biggest lirtadarian port. After giving the last instructions to his crew, he was quickly aproached by one of the three Major Sailing Captains *Captain Maices! how was your journey?*
* um.. very well, Captain Gokain, um... had I known that you would be expecting me I should have brought you something from the crafty river folks Sir* Maices answered nervously and surprised to see Captain Gokain at the dock waiting for him.
*Ah! forget about that, listen, I'm here to talk to you about a possible new route expedition.* said Gokain with a brief smile, in an intriguing and satisfied way, as if proposing a plan to an accomplice.

She walked in the room, stern and sturdy, in plain sensible gingham, and solid flat-heeled shoes. None noted her as she approached Griznak, and he could see she wore fine chain under her plain kirtle and the fishknife she carried was more combat-ready than it strictly speaking needed to be.
"Milady" he nodded, in a slight bow an observer would not notice. "You honor me."
She sat across from him and the table filled with the products of the built caves. "Your kind woke me before the humans came and made me what I am, Griznak-and your service to me of removing those horrid feral dogs meritted this. Please, eat-and let us parley."
He shrugged and accepted the genius locii's bounty."What would bring you to me, milady?"
She ran a weathered hand over her fine chain. "War approaches, young troll-my people will sally forth against the Newts."
Griznak slurped down a haunch of lamb and nodded. "I sorrow for you-they will die, and the Newts will feed their flesh to their demons and make flutes for the Newtlings of their bones."
She smiled sadly. "I do not believe it is as clear-cut as that-there is something brewing, but it is beyond my sight. I fear I shall not be safe for you, nor indeed the Empire, and soon."
"I must brave the risks, milady-my vision took me to the Black Sun Temple, where the Oracle clearly stated I would find outsiders here that would lead me to Korasting." He clucked in apology. "The risk is worth it to me-and my people."
"Be warned, then-there are intrigues woven-wheels within wheels that turn against you." Her demeanor became serious. "There is a woman of mine who is motivating this-she is a pawn used by others unwitting. She is the harbinger of war, and her actions will condemn all nonhumans in my borders. She will meet an elf in the marketplace tomorrow, not far from your stall-I have arranged this so you may warn the elf his collusion will damn all nonhumans."
"Very well, milady-in Your honor I shall do this."
"I do not favor war, troll-I am my city, and what befalls it befalls me." she stated simply. "This war will damage me greatly if it is not circumvented."
"I shall do my best, milady." Griznak cleaned his claws and drew forth his drum. To honor the Spirit of the city, he sang a song of peace and prosperity. She smiled and faded, leaving only a feeling of wellbeing that permeated the patrons of this inn.

"What do you mean the elf disappeared?" Hedath demanded after Urida told him everything that she had witnessed.
"He was hiding just as I was, but he quickly disappeared. I'd imagine that it was through magical means - he's hardly stealthy for one such as me," Urida responded in as polite a manner as she could muster at that moment, which was to say fairly rude for one of the royal advisors. She had already been in a foul mood before Hedath had felt the need to question her.
"Okay, okay, no need to get your fur in a mat," Hedath said as he took a step back. "You should know, by the way, that you and that elf were seen by some people who were undoubtedly from Silandra. One of them must have been using magic too, because they knew you weren't an ordinary housecat."
"Well then maybe you should have been the one who listened," Urida spat back.
"I'm not blaming you, so please calm down?" Hedath pleaded. "Anyway, it needed to be you, because they aren't going to tell that woman, and she would have noticed me."
Urida gave one last hiss before settling down and licking her tail in a very irritated manner.
"So, um... how about you show me where you saw the elf?" Hedath asked.
Urida continued to lick her tail for a while, but Hedath knew cats well enough already to know that he just had to wait for her to calm down and accept the idea on her own time. She got up within a minute and led him to where she had been, where she then showed him where she had seen the elf.
Hedath looked at it for a few moments, and then followed the elf's path out of the city. Occassionally he would stop and ask Urida what she saw with her night-vision, but eventually they reached the elf's camp, where Hedath could see that he was writing something. Given the solemn nature, Hedath guessed that it was a report to a higher-up, rather than a letter to a friend or family member.
"I take it that's the elf?" Hedath asked.
Urida nodded, so Hedath studied the elf for a few seconds more.
"I think he might be a military member, or a spy, which means we should be careful in making him aware of us. We don't want him to attack us, which he would if we just barged into his camp. Maybe he'll come out if he hears a cat mewing pitifully?" Hedath suggested.
Urida informed him in no uncertain terms that she would have bitten his ankle if he were worthy of her notice. Hedath supposed that he should have known better than to tease her at that moment.
After a few moments, Hedath decided that the best way to talk to the elf was to call out and wait for an invitation into his camp. Careful to stand quite a distance from where the elf could possibly have felt threatened by his presence, Hedath called out, "Oy, you there! I'm not a Silandran and I mean you no harm, but I'd like to talk to you if you don't mind!"

OOC: Oblivion2, I'm assuming that Avionus is an elf because of the queen, but if not, feel free to tell me and I'll fix this post.

*something goes BUMP in the night. Probably an Oxymoonish cat*

Griznak couldn't sleep-that the Spirit of the City should come to him, and ask a service-he would grant it, the genius locii were terribly generous-when suddenly a BUMP roused him. His keen troll hearing picked out a tiny night hunter, it's manner casual.
He poked his head out and looked. It was a tiny beast, well-fed enough to be someone's pet, and these creatures were baleful to the disease spirits he could see clustered in the streets here. He dug out a chunk of mantis meat and tossed it to the small creature, jokingly stating, "Here-eat this instead of me, and while you eat, we shall converse."
Imagine his surprise when the tiny beast said, in slightly accented Shadowspeech, "I am Urida of Oxymoon, and you are...?"
He bobbed his head. "I am Griznak, tiny one--you should not be here. The spirit of the city has warned me of danger-danger brought by an elf in service to one of the spirit's children. Tomorrow, I shall try to stop this, but the Spirit of the Built Caves assured me this danger would destroy all nonhumans within it's walls."

"Technically speaking, I'm not here," Urida replied, "I'm quite a way out of town where my human companion and I are hoping to speak to yet another being who is aware of that elf's new 'position.' I created a pseudo-body out of water through which I 'speak.' I'm sorry to have intruded upon you, but I couldn't help but notice the scent of a troll while I was back in town, and I was sent here because our princess felt strange happenings occurring near Silandra. Since it is unusual for trolls to inhabit cities like this - especially ones near Silandra - it seemed worthwhile for me to look into why you are here in addition to the elf's goings-on. If the Spirit of the City has told you what you've said, then it looks like Hedath and I are on the right track. I propose, then, that we meet whisker to whisker, so that we can figure out what to do next. I cannot, after all, keep this form up for very long."

Griznak could see the tendrils of energy flowing from the tiny hunter to-well, he guessed the tiny hunter's true form. It's trail would be clearly visible to his Shaman's Sight, and he was a hunter and tracker from birth. "I will travel to you, tiny one, and tell you what the Spirit of the Built Caves has told me."
Shouldering his gear, he stopped briefly to obtain some minced fish in a clay pot and a basket of things the pink food ate-he would not forget his manners with these new creatures.
Slipping past the guards was child's play, and the tendrils lead him to the tiny creature's camp. He hailed it:"Urida! I have come as promised!" before stepping from the brush.

Urida looked at the troll and did her best to keep from arching her back. Trolls had always unnerved her, just as they probably unnerved most cats - she hadn't met too many that had met a troll whisker to whisker. Ordinarily she would have been fine with how the troll had made himself known, but at that moment, she had concerns about how the elf would react. Or Hedath, for that matter.
He's going to kill me when he finds out that I was controlling a pseudo-body while he was tracking down the elf...
"Not so loud, you might scare that those guys," Urida whispered back. "The human is another Oxymoonan, Hedath, who has been travelling with me by order of the princess. We followed another who overheard the conversation between the human woman and the elf man, the one I mentioned before. I'm sure it'll be good that you're here once we've gotten this guy to talk to us, but we need him to come out first. Hence why Hedath just called out a few seconds ago. And that smells like fish."
One finds it hard to control one's tail when one wants nearby fish.

OOC: Trying to get Urida-Griznak timeline to work with the one that should be happening with Urida-Hedath-Avionus, if Oblivion2 will come back and RP...

OOC: Sorry guys schools a B****.

Avionus looked up warily from his report and unsheathed his sword slightly, "what do you want human...?" Avionus asked to the human walking towards his camp.

"I am Hedath, from the queendom of Oxymoon. Just like my companion Urida, you were watching the incident between the elf-man and human-woman. It looks like you are also an outsider, sent by those higher up to investigate something. We would like to compare notes, or if you are not willing to speak about why you are here, then we would appreciate it if you told us what you thought about the conversation that you and Urida overheard." Hedath knew that remaining where he was and not bringing out a weapon would probably allow the elf to calm down. The elf would sheathe the sword again on his own time. As it was, Hedath was still far enough away that he could bring out a weapon of his own if the elf suddenly attacked.

"It should be interesting, bringing you into this conversation. You should probably wait for me to introduce you," Urida said to Griznak.

Avionus looked at the human warily and sheathed his sword, "Sure come sit by the fire our nations could profit from this exchange of information." "My name is avionus the ranger, i have no last name as i have no parents, I come from the Empire of Donmar, Which by conincedence is also ruled by queens, I was sent here to observe the events that came to pass, my queen said to come to the border of silandra, to find the source of a coming evil, which i belive i witnessed yesterday. But i must ask you a question, how did you find me, whilst i was invisible to the naked eye?"

Griznak watched the pink food warily-even without the bolongo, he knew the Donmari was anxious. The tiny hunter wished to introduce him--"A cat?" the bolongo hissed to him,"You want a cat to introduce you? You will be a laughingstock-introduce yourself, instead. You are the youngest shaman the Muri have yet produced, and Kyger Litor herself sent you on your visionquest."
Despite, or perhaps because of, the bolongo's objection, he decided the tiny hunter knew best. As a troll and a shaman, he knew cats danced on the moon in the dreamrealm, protecting the Earth from the dreamrealm's less pleasant inhabitants. As the two faced each other, he squatted down, watching. The Black Sun Temple sent him here to ally with outsiders, and these seemed willing to ally with him, The warning of the Spirit of the Built Caves had warned him of danger to all those present from within it's desmenses, and had asked him to intercede on it's behalf.
All this stayed him, and made him willing to let the tiny hunter work it's own machinations. Besides, if the two would not ally, they would be fine eating-meat and potatoes.

"You may have been invisible, but you leave both tracks and scents. Urida never would have let me use her to track your scent, but as a bodyguard, I am good at tracking, and Urida, as a cat, was able to see what I could not in the darkness. Urida saw you for a brief moment while both of you were watching the incident with the elf-man and human-woman, which is how I knew to track you in the first place. Can I call Urida over to talk as well?"
Avionus looked at Hedath for a moment. "Just a cat..."
"She has the body of a housecat," Hedath answered, "but the same sentience as any of us, and more intelligence than some."
Avionus hesitated for a moment again, then nodded.

"Wait for me to call you over," Urida instructed Griznak before walking over to the fire and switching to human speak.

"This tortoiseshell cat is Urida," Hedath said. "And he, Urida, is Avionus from Donmar."
Urida nodded to Hedath before addressing Avionus in what she would have called human-speak (even though humans were not the only ones who spoke it). "The Empire of Donmar - I trust that your queen is doing well. If she sent you here, then she must have felt the same thing as our princess did. I would start by having us exchange what we know, but I found yet another being from another nation who seems to have been sent here for a similar purpose. He is one Griznak of the Muri, a troll who speaks your through the means of a bolongo translating mask. I understand his native shadow-speech. May I introduce him as well, or are you feeling overwhelmed already by the appearance of two Oxymoonans?"
Hedath looked as though he was debating whether to kill Urida or die himself.

OOC: avionus is an elf as are all donmari
A troll, excellent, when he was a younger elf he loved to explore, one of those explorations took him to the muri homeland, where he learned some of the native shadowspeech. Avionus nodded "The muri would be quite welcome in my camp, please inform that i too understand much shadowspeak and that he not be afraid of speaking his native tongue. But the body of a housecat, hmm would you urdia, happen to be a beast master? My people have the ablities to inhabit animals as well, though we prefer to form of a bird."

Urida appeared offended by the suggestion, looked at Hedath, then ran off to get Griznak.
"No, she's really a cat," Hedath answered. "Oxymoonish cats are born intelligent and sentient, just like Oxymoonish humans. That is her true and original form. And she'll probably have forgiven you for that question by the time she returns with the troll."

Urida found Griznak and spoke in shadow-speech once more, "Seems that the elf is more than happy to meet you, and even knows shadow-speech. Come with me to Avionus' camp. I think only Hedath will be in need of that translator there."

Urida strode back toward the camp, followed by Griznak. "This is Griznak of the Muri," she introduced in human-speak. In shadow-speech, she said, "That is Avionus of Donmar, and this is my human companion who is also from Oxymoon, Hedath."
Urida began, "Umakaya."
Then she continued in an odd mixture of human-speak and shadow-speech that was artfully crafted so that everyone could understand what she was saying, "We are all people who, for one reason or another, are aware of the meeting between the elf-man and human-woman, and seem to have someone asking us to keep track of, and possibly even stop, the events that are unfolding. I believe that the more we cooperate, the better we will be able to achieve our tasks, especially since they seem to be almost the same. I do not know how comfortable you may be with us working together in general, but at the very least, we can all tell each other what we know about the events unfolding."
"Kerasen," Hedath whispered snidely at Urida.
Urida glared at him before asking the group, "Anyone wish to volunteer to go first?"

OOC: You will now be subjected to Hedath and Urida occassionally saying little bits of native Oxymoonish, generally to each other (like Hedath's bit to Urida).
Since your characters have a chance of knowing this, "Umakaya" is an Oxymoonish phrase used at the beginning of any diplomatic meeting. It comes quite literally from their motto, which means "let's be peaceful."

Griznak carefully laid out the silvery hide of the water serpent and placed the pot of minced fish near Urida, and the basket of food from the inn Urida's pet. Uncertain of Donmari requirements, he rummaged out a pot of honey and placed it near Avionus. "Eat this, friends, and while you eat, let us converse."
He removed the spear from it's haft and planted it, the bolongo leering ominously after translating:"There's grub-let's chat."
Squatting down by the hide, Griznak pulled his small twin drums and began to play a song to keep spirits from appearing as he spoke. "I have come here, the way of the dying sun, on a visionquest, friends. This may be part of that quest, or may not-I do not know. While in the Built Caves, the Spirit of that place approached me, and told me to stop an elf from putting in effect actions that would rekindle the hatred of the pink food towards all that was not pink food."
"The spirit spoke of wheels within wheels turned against us all, all spinning toward a war to consume our lands and pit pink food against Newt, grinding all else to chaff between them. The spirit did not know all-only what occurred within her territory, and that through the filter of her children-the dwellers in the Built Caves.
"Tomorrow, I go to warn this elf-convince him to abandon his alliance. I have sworn to the pink food in the tiny hut not to eat pink food there, so may not kill the elf to aid the spirit, but allies not bound by my oath may act as required by the spirit."
The bolongo translated:"This elf's going to start a war tomorrow-you could ambush him."

Avionus' shadowspeech was a bit rusty but if he translated correctly he troll had said that the elf and the female wished to make war against all non humans. Avionus spoke to the troll and the human in a bix of shadow and human speech "If what you say is true griznak, then this may be the event my emperess foresaw, I will have a letter sent to the queen at once and I can have a full squad of Donmari shadow rangers here by dawn tomorrow. But tonight we feast and continue to plan against this brewing war. But also think about this, thia maybe what the silandrian wants us to do, attack her and the elf so that silandria has a legitimet reason to conquer us and win the war." An Owl fluttered to avionus' side

"Ah Tafor send this letter to the queen make sure it gets there before night fall quickly now." The Owl tafor spoke in human "It will be done captain!"

Urida happily munched on the fish while Hedath hesitantly ate some of the food placed in front of him (after thorough examination, some of which involved magic).

Hedath looked at Urida with a quizzical brow. From Avionus' reply, and the length of what Griznak had said in shadow-speech, he was certain that the bolongo mask had not translated well. In Oxymoonish, he asked for a translation, which Urida only gave after an apology for his snide comment earlier.

"It is possible, Avionus, for that to be the human-woman's plan, but I do not think it is," Hedath replied in common, since he could not speak shadow-speech and he wanted more than just Urida to understand. After explaining about what he had heard from the three Silandrans while they had been watching the conversation and the two who had overheard the conversation, Hedath continued, "However, even if that was not the original intent, she or someone else from Silandra could certainly use that excuse nonetheless. If we kill either, it would be best to do so by staging the 'perfect accident.' It would be better if we can manage to save the elf. I would propose finding him before he reaches the meeting spot tomorrow, and steal him away to Donmar, where I am sure he could be concealed as yet another elven-citizen of said empire."
Once she saw that he was done, Urida added in her artistic shadow-and-human-speech, "I am curious as to why the Spirit of the City suggested that the elf, rather than the human, would cause the war. It must be significant. Either it must mean that the elf is the one who purposely causes the war, or it means that the woman cannot start the war without him. From what you've said, Griznak, and from what Avionus and I saw, it sounds as if it is the latter." Urida explained in shadow-speech all that she had witnessed of the conversation between the elf and the woman.

The three talked, the bolongo hissing in shadowspeech for Griznak's benefit, until the young shaman felt the need to clarify himself:"The daughter and elf are pawns-their actions will lead to war even if that is not their intent. The Spirit of the Built Caves implicated the elf because it is not hers like the daughter of the Built Caves. Spirits like her derive power from those living in her region, and that makes the female valuble to the spirit.
"Summoning forces as you wish, Avionus, would play into the plans of those who desire War. These three Watchers you saw--it would appear they are the hand of the hidden players desiring war. There was a leknar among the guards-perhaps he would know more of them."
Urida raised up reluctantly from her fish, and stared at the troll. "A leknar? Are you sure?"
Griznak tapped the side of his nose. "They're not as tasty as pink food-I knew him for a leknar by smell. As he is not loyal to those desiring war, perhaps his position as Guardian of the Built Caves may make him privy to the identities of the Watchers. He is not like most leknar-he could talk to the spirits."
"Talk to the spirits? Urida, what is he nattering on about?" Hedath whispered in Oxymoonan.
"Trolls summon spirits to work their magic, and assume everyone else does." She hissed around mouthfuls of fish. "This leknar is a magician--and likely a spy."
"The spirit spoke of wheels within wheels." Griznak nodded. "All the Food seems to have eyes and ears here--small wonder all roads lead to War. I wonder why so many spies have congregated here and now--so many the Spirit of the Built Caves was girding herself for battle.
"The elf will pass by my stall in the market tomorrow-the Spirit of the Built Caves said she would ensure this. Since you know his face, perhaps you should be there as well."

Avionus listened intently to the Muri's speech. Elendil said to the troll in shadow speech "ok then I think i have an idea, Griznak, you do your Merchant stall and see what you can find out from the elf, The oxymoonians and I will see if we can find the Lenkari man. Besides my travel papers need to be renewed."

Griznak grunted assent and rose, gathering up the water serpent hide. There was time for a hunt before returning to his quarters, and he needed the exercise. The morning would bring him to his stall where he would find the elf and see if war could be averted.
Slipping into his quarters with that night's kill, he settled in for a repast. As he ate, an idea occurred to him, and he addressed the bolongo. "This matter may be beyond me. Go, then, to the Castle of Lead and tell the Sacred Motherhood what has transpired this day, then return here by morning to rouse me. I shall need you then."

Urida sat still, having finished her fish, while Hedath made camp next to Avionus'. Could she do it? Probably. Hedath would never need to know...

Without a noise, Urida slipped off into the night. Griznak would need to know what the elf looked like if he was going to find it by himself. Hedath would never agree to let Urida be alone with either Griznak or Avionus, and it would be better for Hedath to accompany Avionus to find the leknar. She might be of use as well. So it was imperative that Griznak be given a picture of the elf.
After sprinting back to town and then sneaking through shadows like an alleycat, she reached Griznak's lodgings. She entered, careful not to bump into anything the way that she had let her water-self do, sat, and concentrated. If Griznak were awake, he would have seen through his spirit-sight a colorful brilliance arching from her to the ground, as if she were emitting a rainbow that was spilling on the ground. In a moment or two, she had a picture of the elf in front of her, as well as a small piece of paper and a quill and ink.
"This is a picture of the elf that I saw.
~Urida"
She wrote the note in the only form of written shadow-speech she had ever heard of - which she hoped would be universal - and left it with the picture next to Griznak in a spot that she hoped he would notice when he awoke. After returning the ink and quill into water and that into nothing, she sneaked back through the town and ran off into the night, back to the camp with Hedath.

When she returned, she was greeted by a sound scolding from Hedath in Oxymoonish.

OOC: Sorry - had a 20%-of-grade essay where I analyzed a passage from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight due yesterday. And no, Oxymoonish cats are not colorblind.

"Wakey wakey, elf and bacey." the bolongo sneered in Griznak's ear. "The Mothers are alerted."
"Good." the young troll shook the sleep from his head and looked about. There was a puddle of water reflecting an elf near his bedding, woven solid by odd magicks. Griznak picked it up, studying it. "What are these strange marks?" he wondered aloud.
"Note from the cat." the bolongo replied."Says it's the elf they were talking about."
"Perhaps I can get his name with this-nice of Urida to make it so portable." Griznak folded the puddle and tucked it in his belt. "I will need you to convey my breakfast desires to the innkeeper, then, as I eat, you will find the leknar and invite him to my stall in the market. Use the utmost etiquette--I would not have him offended."
The bolongo sulked the rest of it's time with Griznak...

The lands of the Muri are largely a mystery to outsiders. The Muri themselves tend to live simple lives as hunter/gatherers, and the only contact generally had is with the wandering caravans of the Argan Argari. Few people know the Muri do have structures and towns, and truth be told, the Muri prefer to be thought of as primitive maneaters.
The few towns and structures in the Troll Lands are simple affairs, but there are exceptions. One of them is the ornate and elaborate Mausoleum of Gork Trag, a monument to the greatest military mind the Muri had ever produced. Gork Trag was a Zorak Zoran Warmaster whose glorious career saw the destruction of all invaders to the Troll Lands for over fifty years, when he was slain by unknown assassins.
The Voivode of the Muri made his way to the remote Mausoleum on spiderback. He'd have preferred to ride his mantis, but Gork Trag's Vulture Legion shot down all fliers who approached the Mausoleum. He silently rode to the Mausoleum, seeing the hag of the region awaiting him at it's gate. *Small wonder I have not been attacked. I am expected.* he thought, dismounting and hailing the hag. "Greetings to you, guardianess."
"Greetings, Voivode." she said, gesturing. "Let me extend my darkness to protect you."
He approached reverently and kissed the palms of her hands. "I would speak with Gork Trag."
"He knows." she said, turning slowly and leading him into the recesses of the Mausoleum.
He followed, to where Gork Trag lay in state, his meticulously maintained armor incongruous with his mummified state. As the Voivode approached, red flickers of light kindled in the empty eyesockets and Gork Trag sat up. "Why do you disturb me?"
"The Motherhood has disturbed me with rumors of war, and the Blue Moon has verified them all." The Voivode replied. "The humans and Newts are at it again, Gork Trag, and this time it threatens to involve us all, if Annilla is correct."
"She usually is-though her sense of time is skewed oddly." The lich general nodded. "You would have my Vulture Legion invade Silandra?"
"Sweet Kyger Litor, no!" the Voivode waved a casual dismissal. "If the humans discover our reserves of gold here, we'll never be rid of them. No, I want you to go to Lygbryne, offer their Inhuman King the Vulture Legion as mercenaries."
"Clever--I am known to act independantly, to the glory of Zorak Zoran, so your claws are clean, and if my Legion marches, you will know the rumors are true." Gork Trag nodded. "The Newts will decline if not anticipating war, and I shall return by way of the Yellow Springs so you shall know the rumors are false."
Returning to his spider-mount, the Voivode returned to his home, seeing the fell beast of Gork Trag rising into the sky and wheeling in a lazy arc northward. The rumors of war would soon be settled....

*BUMP*Griznak poked at the thread irritably. If it was dead, it was only proper it should be food...