Wilds - Bacon

After a few hours of negotiation, the party retires to the camp to discuss options and prepare for tomorrow's meet with the villagers. So far, so good. Will things continue in the same vein? Let's find out.


As evening stretches on and the party sets its watches, there is a horn call in the near distance, followed by an answering call from the village. Shortly thereafter a trio of men, two hauling something big and heavy on a pole, round the palisade and head for the gate. They pause for a few moments, looking at the camp, then head inside. Light and the occasional voice or laugh leak out of the palisade, but otherwise the little enclave is quiet. The party maintains their usual watches and spends a long time talking about the village and what else they might obtain here. Raúguey and Ingvild seem anxious to move on, uninterested in the negotiations, and Ohwatoo thinks there will be little to gain of practical value, but the others want to spend at least part of the next day talking with Tragor and his villagers. Maro seems keen on trade, Durego wants information on the locale, and Mordikarr is interested in talking with Cabola about her bear friend.

The night passes quietly, and early the next morning the party is up and about. Shortly thereafter, Tragor and a pair of villagers the group haven't spoken with approach the camp, stopping a distance away. Maro and Raúguey go out to meet the village leader and agree to send four into the village to speak again. An hour later Maro, Raúguey, Mordikarr, and Durego head in, Ohwatoo elects to stay in camp.

OOC: Going to summarize here, or I'll be writing all day...

Tragor agrees to let Raúguey bring the sword of bees into the compound to see what happens when he wields it near the hives. This draws the interest of many villagers who watch the whole thing with some amusement. Sword in hand he approaches the row of hives. Immediately bees begin to circle the fighter, and land on the sword, which is soon covered with a dense sheath of bees. The blade begins to vibrate in Raúguey's hand, and the villagers are suitably impressed. After a few moments he backs away, and the swarm returns to its usual activity.

Durego manages to pull Belon aside and ask about the locale. The man is a little less close-mouthed on his own, and Durego gets the sense that Belon wants greater status than he has in the village. He tells Durego about the nearby terrain. Bogs and ponds north and southwest, grassland to the northwest, hills and forest to the south and southeast [Map updated]. The villagers don't venture too far from their home, so they don't have much to say beyond that. There are no ruins within the surrounding terrain, at least none that Belon knows of.

Raúguey shows his 'lucky' gold piece to various villagers, Tragor, Shelma, Belon, but none know anything about it.

Mordikarr spends most of the morning talking with Cabola. She is not exactly forthcoming, and he realizes that she is quite shy. Introducing Suren and Ava breaks the ice, and it is clear, after she calls the bear, Ironclaw, to her side, that she has the same talent he does. He learns that she grew up in the village, and that her parents also had the ability to speak with animals. She's clearly Tragor's friend and ally. She doesn't seem to like Belon a whole lot.

Maro spends his time with Tragor, offering the various trade goods the party is willing to part with. The village leader is very reluctant to trade food, it's clear he's worried about the coming winter. Eventually Maro trades the two swords [Maro's bastard sword and Raúguey's long sword] plus 200' of rope (half silk, half hemp), one of the barrels, and hammer for a fair-sized bundle of furs, two small sacks of the flowers and seeds, two jugs of mead, and some additional foodstuffs [7 days rations, all Tragor is willing to trade away]. He reiterates that they have no interest in coin.

None of the villagers seem interested in traveling with the party, aside from a few ten- and twelve-year-old boys who spend most of the day following the 'Bee Man' around making buzzing noises. The adults seem to have little interest in history or the lands beyond their own borders, and are secure in their little domain. Shelma has a record of the village births and deaths, passed down to her from the former priest. These records go back six generations, and there are older records too, but they are mostly unreadable, the crude paper they were written on is falling apart, the ink faded.

Maro asks Tragor about storing some supplies at the village, perhaps visiting again in the future, and Tragor seems amenable. He indicates they would be interested in trading more furs for additional tools (axes, spades, saws), weapons (bows, arrows, spears, swords), or liquor (in limited amounts). When the elf asks about other traders, Tragor tells him they are few and far between, mostly one or two men bringing weapons and tools and trading for furs. He's cagey about naming names.

By noon, you've fairly well wrapped up business. It seems that despite the lack of useful trade goods you've made a positive impression, and that you'll be welcome back if you return this way. Belon directs the party to a trail, which leads away SSW through the low hills and after sharing a final cup of mead, the envoys return to camp and with the others prepare to hit the road after a quick bite to eat.

The group heads south, following Belon's directions, skirting the east side of a nasty looking maze of bogs and ponds. Afternoon finds them south of the bog, and losing the trail, which split and twisted back toward the enclave. "Guess they really don't venture too far from their village," says Durego.

OOC:

Ohwatoo has had time to make another Continual Light stone, who get's it?
Maro - remove the bastard sword from your inventory
Rawon - remove a barrel from your inventory
Raúguey - remove the long sword from your inventory
Group - minus 2 hemp rope, 2 silk rope, 1 hammer

End Date: September 13, Year of the Badger, afternoon
End Status: Back on the trail
End Location: The Wilds

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