[ We find Our Heroes bravely marching! Marching bravely! Marching unto fate uncertain! Never stoping, no, for they are brave and... eh, I'll skip it. ] * Vall oocly bravely runs away. [ Sorry, I just go off like that sometimes, y'know? Anyway. ] [ It's been another two days of travel, all uneventful, and it's brought our heroes to a large cavern. This one is home to large fields of what seems to be fungus in the process of being cultivated by bands of humanoids. They enter the cavern high up above said fields, so they can't tell exactly what they are, however. ] [ In the center of the cavern is a town, made of numerous tall buildings huddled around a large stalagmite/stalactite pairing. Just around the towers are some smaller buildings - mostly collections of lean-tos and huts - and several penns holding animals of some sort. A single road, which much be paved since it's a different color than the rock around it, leads east through a large opening. ] [ So, this is where they start! And where the session starts! So, Session Start! ] * Vall tries to make out what race the humanoids are. * Seylin speaks quietly to the group. "Want me to go down and take a closer look?" "I don't remember this. Please." * Ariake nods, looking at the layout of the place. * Istvan eyes the cavern, and simply mmm's quietly, war pick resting on his shoulder, as usual. Be careful, Seylin. * Seylin smiles at Kenji. "I'm always careful!" [ Sure you are, dearie. ^_~ ] * Patrick smirks. "She is. Just sometimes more careful than others." ~_^ * Seylin pulls up the hood of her cloak, then takes off, slowly winging her way down towards the town. [ Seylin soars gracefully down, despite the stillness of the air in this particular cavern. ] They're not picking those fungus looking stuff for eating are they? I believe they are. Strange people. Yes. Plants can't live here, but fungus can. The drow have bred a hundred different types of fungus for consumption. Might. Looks like they're harvesting it. Like a big fungus farm. They even make a form of beer from mushrooms. * Will grunts in disgust. "Ewww" * Tia blinks. Wow, those are some big mushrooms! I wonder if they're good for eating. Mushroom beer can be quite good, actually... You've had one before Ariake? I wouldn't try it, Tia. It's hard to tell the kinds apart, and some are very poisonous. Oh, okay. * Tia pulls her hand back as she was just about to grab a piece off the nearest fungus. * Ariake smiles. "Once or twice - my workshop's in the basement of a bar, remember?" 'sides, they might not like us eating their crops... such as they are. * Tia leans over and sniffs a mushroom. If its cultivated here, its probably not poisonous. Look to see if they're eating any, first. * Tia nods. [ The mushroom smells pretty bad. But maybe it just has to be cooked and spiced right or something. ] * Tia wrinkles her nose. "Smells bad, though." * Tia , though, eats mud, so she would probably eat this too. If I had to guess, I'd say they'd probably be friendlyish. Not too many warlike farmers. Or warlike vegetarians. * Patrick chuckles. "I can tell what's poisonous or not easily enough." * Istvan rubs his head. "... not that I'd guarantee that, mind you." (can we tell what race is doing the cultivation?) ( Not from here. ) * Vall waits for Seylin to return, while keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. * Seylin flies back up from below, landing on the ledge next to the others. She pulls the hood of her cloak down, then speaks quietly to the group. "Okay, here's what we've got." * Ariake looks over and listens to Seylin. * HKenji listens attentively. * Vall listens, and keeps an eye on the town at the same time... just in case * Tia wags her tail and listens. * Will walks a bit closer and gives Seylin his full attention. It looks like the ones in charge down there are trolls. They've organized a bunch of orcs and bugbears and goblinoids. All of those are doing the harvesting, while the trolls supervise. * Istvan sliiiiides out of the way of the tail. "... okay, not friendlyish." I've never seen a troll before. Maybe some of the trolls noticed me. Maybe not. They didn't seem to react, though. Trolls. What kind of trolls, precisely? Hmm. What are trolls? * Patrick nods. [ The large, ugly kind ] Papa always said they were ugly. I seem to recall that trolls are supposed to be bad news for adventurers. In the town are those buffalo-things. I think they're Rothe', right? Anyhow, the orcs 'n goblinoids and all live in the shanty town, while the trolls live in the town proper. Your gaijin trolls that are so terribly difficult to kill, or the trolls like we have back home that are just really big and powerful? Well, these trolls were carrying weapons and wearing armor. They’re pains in the ass. And these'd be gajin-trolls. Well, we could inspire a goblinoid uprising against the trolls... Oh, dear... * HKenji blinks. "We could WHAT?" ... yeah. 'cause that worked so well last time. * Istvan mutters. Those were orcs. ... ... * Seylin gives Vall a Look. Goblins do one thing well. And that's run. ... and goblins are better how? * HKenji is, for quite possibly the first time in y'all's knowledge of him, stricken speechless. you've got a point, there... The armour on these trolls doesn't look like they were made by those evil dwarves do they? Orcs're big'n cowardly. Goblins are small and, if possibly, even more cowardly. I'm hungry. Trolls, on the other hand... how many did you see Seylin? * Tia eyes the mushrooms again. Fancy some mushrooms, Tia? * Tia blinks. "Not if they're bad for me!" Are trolls tasty, though? They smell pretty bad Tia. If goblins are eating them, they can't be too bad. Oh. I don't like bad-smelling things. Goblins will eat anything. * Istvan eyes Vall. ... have you ever met a goblin? ...But I'm hungry. I think you should give them a try, though. The armor didn't look weird, aside from being made for trolls. And as for how many... lots. Try eating trolls? I like trying new things! Actually, I did meet this one goblin paladin once. I don't think eating trolls is a very good idea, Tia. * Istvan pulls a ration pack out of his haversack, and holds it out to Tia. "Food." They don't strike me as particularly nutritious. No, Tia. Not the trolls. They aren't. They won't be happy if you do that, and there's lots of them. You'd be amazed what you'll eat when you're hungry, though. Do we have ample supples of fire? I picked up a few fire spells lately. * Istvan twirls his war pick. "Some." I have a modest supply of oil, but I doubt it would be enough to burn "lots" of trolls. Still... attacking a large group of trolls is a waste. And borderline suicidal. * Patrick twirls a pair of arrows in his right hand. "Fire? Yeah. But this'd just be stupid." * Seylin does a quick mental calculation. "We're talking maybe a hundred of them." ... very stupid. With the few of us, I agree with Ist. At the very *least*, and that was just out in the fields. * Ariake raises an eyebrow. "We can't do that, no." Yikes, that's a lot of trolls. Like I said. Lots. That's what armies are for, and we ain't no freaking army. So I say we mark this on our map as an interesting spot and find a good way to go around. * Patrick chuckles. "Yes." We cannot defeat a hundred trolls. We would likely be hard pressed to defeat ten. So... the direct approach is out. How many subjected people are down there? * Tia accepts Istvan's trail ration. "Thanks!" Makes you wonder why they are all gathered here though. Aren't trolls supposed to be solitary creatures? * Tia munches. We don't know that they're even subjugated, Vall. They could just be workers. I think it best we go around this... town. * Seylin rolls her eyes at Vall. "Vall, there are *way* too many of them." * Ariake nods. Vall, forget trying to overthrow them. If we can take a single troll, however, he may be useful for information. Hell, if I was an orc, having a big group of trolls protecting me might not sound so bad. * Tia has finished the ration and is now eyeing a chunk of mushroom in her hand. Are you sure I can't eat this? * Patrick glances at the chunk of mushroom. * Istvan mutters. "... of course, if I was an orc, I'd be too stupid to realize that. But still." * Tia sniffs it. * Vall considers his options, and shrugs. * Tia shows it to Patrick. [ Yes, Tia, it still smells like poo. ] I didn't see any outliers though, Kenji. They were all guarding. It'd be hard to separate one. * Tia wrinkles her nose again. "Maybe I don't want to eat it so much. What are we doing now, guys? Then we leave them alone. * Tia wags her tail. Or... Uh, it's edible. I wouldn't eat it, though. ~_^ Do you think you could capture one of the field workers? Is it worth it? Probably not without alerting one of the guards. We mark it on the map, let people know about it when we get back so nobody blunders into it, and cap- huh? Why would we wanna do that? For information. But if we can't get one without alerting the town, it's not worth it. We go around. Yes, we'll go around. * HKenji begins looking for a way around the cavern that the entire party can take. * Ariake nods. [ Kenji finds one! ] * HKenji starts quickly down the path. "Hurry along, people." I'm curious to find out if this town sends out any caravans to other towns, though. * Ariake follows Kenji. * Will follows behind Ariake. * Vall takes the second-to-rear position * Seylin pulls out her pen and one of the pieces of parchment she's been using for a map and makes a few notations, before putting it away and heading after the others. * Istvan follows near the front, as is his wont. Why? Because it's hard to whack people with a pick from the back of the line. * Tia trots along, after cramming the chunk of mushroom into her mouth. * HKenji hops along, using perches that are definitely NOT part of the path. How's it taste, Tia? ((How does it taste, GM?)) [ It tastes like meat that's been sitting in a damp place too long. ] [ We're talking days on end. And not preserved meat, either. ] (Tia, you didn't grab a mushroom, you grabbed the fertilizer!) * Tia chews thoughtfully, swallows, and shrugs. She wrinkles her nose a little. "It's not as bad as I thought it was. Not as good as pizza, though." ( Hey, it's what musrooms grow from. And you are what you eat. o/` ) All the same, I think I can go without trying one. (That's why you should eat at Shubby's Pizza. :9) * Tia nods. "I don't think I want anymore." * Ariake nods. * Vall tries a piece himself. "Interesting. Probably tastes better cooked." * Patrick hurries along. It would. Sure we don't have a chef among us? ^_^ [ You eventually make it to the bottom. Oddly, there's a group of large figures making their way down a path to reach where your little stairway meets the walkable portion of the cavern floor. ] *** Chamelaeon is now known as Torlak Uh-oh. We have company... Oh dear... * HKenji hops up the wall a ways and watches. * Tia blinks and stops. "Who are they? * Istvan attempts to back up to some sort of cover while he tries to figure out what the heck is approaching. * Vall readies an arrow, and tries to find someplace to hide behind. * Seylin flies back to a point where there's some shelter and hides. * Will moves to the back of the party. * Patrick works his way back and tries to camoflouge himself as best he can. * Tia looks from side to side, looking for something to duck behind. * HKenji eyes his companions and hops down back into the middle of the path to meet these travellers. * Tia can't find anything, so she follows Kenji instead. * Istvan blinks, shrugs, and follows Kenji cautiously. * Vall tries to make out who or what is approaching, hoping there are no driders among them. (and secretly hoping one of them is a drow) * Ariake follows Kenji as well. * Will nudges Vall, "Do we follow or stay as backup?" [ The group reaches you, soon enough. It consists of fourteen individuals; twelve are large, stalwart-looking trolls in armor and carrying greatswords suited to their large size. One is an orc who never once looks at any of you for even a second; it seems to be a servant of the last, and carries assorted things for it. ] [ And the last? A tall, greyish-tinted troll who walks with his legs unbent and his back straight, making him seem even larger than his companions. He wears elaborate black robes and a shimmering cloak, and has a spiked chain wrapped around his torso like a bandolier. ] * Tia blinks. "Wow." Permit me to swear like a human. Shit. Damn. Fuck. * Istvan attempts to appear non-aggressive. Yeah. Good luck, right? * Ariake bows politely to the approaching mass of destructiveness. I like his dress. Ow, my virgin ears. This is *not* good. * Torlak smiles broadly, revealing absolute scads of nice pointy teeth. "Greetings, wanderers, and welcome to the Kingdom Mrok D'tak. I am Prince Torlak." * HKenji bows deeply to the prince. * Will takes note of Kenji's bow and tries to emulate it. * Patrick nods to himself and comes out of hiding, stepping alongside Seylin (If she's there). * Istvan follows Kenji's lead after a moment's pause. Hi, Prince Torlak! Greetings, Prince Torlak. I am Ikoma Kenji, second heir to the Hosokawa family of the Lion clan. * Tia waves and grins. My name's Tia! I like your dress. * Patrick chuckles at Tia. * Seylin manages a polite curtsy and smiles brightly at the prince. "Good day, Your Highness." * Vall comes out himself. "Greetings, Prince Torlak. I am Vall, of the Woodshadow clan." He bows in greeting. * Patrick bows. "Good day." And I'm Will. * Ariake bows once again. "Good day, Prince Torlak. My name is Ariake." Patrick here. * Vall makes sure his signet ring is visible, and that the rod of splendor has him dressed in its best clothing. * Patrick smiles. * Torlak nods, but makes no move to bow on his own. "Good, good. It is nice to meet you all, after hearing so much about you." * Seylin keeps her smile, but tilts her head slightly. * HKenji looks the prince over, appraising him with the eyes of a trained Kenshinzen. Mostly good news, I would hope. We're famous? Hearing about us now? Hear that? We're famous. ^_^ Our reputations precede us? Wow. * Tia just grins. * Ariake blinks, surprised. You heard from the orcs, doubtless. Oh, yes. My ... aides, have brought me much news of your fierce battle with the Duergar. They have been harrying this flank of our kingdom for some time now, and it is quite a relief to have them gone. And such an excellent slaughter, as well. * Torlak grins broadly again. * Patrick smirks. They were unworthy opponents. Thanks! * Istvan remains silent for the time being. Well, we're glad we could help. * Ariake nods. * Torlak nods very slightly to Kenji. "They were indeed. And you even managed to provide me with eight extra slaves." I am extremely grateful. That was exactly the number I was forced to kill yesterday, after they failed their crop quota by a bushel. * HKenji nods. "I suppose orcs make better slaves than goblins, in any case." * HKenji places his hands carefully on his obi, putting his hands WELL out of position for any kind of attack. * Ariake very carefully does not respond to that. * Seylin fights her instinct to make some sort of visible reaction. * Istvan frowns, but makes no reaction other than bouncing the haft of his war pick on his shoulder. * Torlak makes a sweeping gesture behind him. "As recompense for your favor, I wish to extend the option for you to travel across our lands, which extend for several tunnels past this one." * Will blinks at the comment and eyes Torlak wierdly. Thankfully, the helmet prevents Torlak from noticing any of his facial expressions. * HKenji twitches, visibly restraining some inner instinct. "Your generosity is welcome, Your Highness. We thank you." * Patrick stands, his hands down and away from... well, he doesn't have any weapons showing. I... thank you for your gift, O Prince. We have no quarrel with you, merely with the drow who live further into the caverns. * Ariake nods. "Thank you!" Feel free to purchase what you will from our stores, or stay where you might at the inns. In addition, I shall tell my father of your deeds, and after he spends time reallocating warriors to fight the Duergar hordes in the north, I am certain he will remember your names. * Tia wags her tail. And believe me, it is you who are in need of my thanks. Thanks, Torlak! You're very nice. * Tia grins. .oO(That was worded... oddly.) * Patrick smiles the smile of smirkyness #68. We are humbled by your generosity. * Istvan settles for nodding. About how far does your kingdom extend, highness? For about two months on foot at its longest point, give or take a week for how many slaves you're forced to slaughter on the way. * Torlak grins the grin again. That's most impressive. * Vall nods solemnly. "And in the other direction?" * Will nods. "Wow. Big kingdom." I'm hungry. * Ariake blinks. "Impressive indeed." A most impressive kingdom. Your warriors must be mighty, indeed. Perhaps, then, Tia, we should take the Prince up on his generous offer, and check out the stores and inn in this town. The kingdom is only as long as the caves will allow. And the kingdom is mighty due to the prowess of my father. If you'll pardon my boldness, who is your father, Your Highness? My father is Mordaal the Black. He is a most fierce warrior. And an even fiercer leader. For forging this kingdom, he is to be commended. * Ariake nods. Yeah. Really nice place. He would be pleased to know you think it so. Please convey our best regards to him. Okay! I like shopping! * Tia grins at Vall. If there is nothing else, then, Your Highness, we thank you for your offer and we humbly leave your presense in peace. * Vall accentuates this with a respectful bow. * Tia glances at Vall, then hurriedly bows as well. Thanks, Mr. Prince! Of course. You likely wish to begin your journey, and who am I to stop you? * Tia tries to give the prince a hug. * Ariake bows deeply. [ Several warriors are immediately between Tia and the Prince. ] * Seylin starts to curtsy, then looks up and hisses. "Tia, no!" [ Their expressions say that hugging is verboten. ] * HKenji bows deeply once more to the prince. "My apologies, my companion is often overeager, and very friendly. VERY friendly. * Patrick grabs Tia on the shoulder and shakes his head. He grins at Torlak. [ One of the other wariors sees all this and mutters something darkly. Some of the remaining warriors near him stiffen immediately, and suddenly seem nervous. ] * Tia stops and blinks. "No hug?" * Seylin shakes her head. "No, Tia. It's not their custom, and we should respect that." * Ariake nods. * Vall leans over and whispers "It is bad form for commoners like us to hug royalty, regardless of race." * Tia nods sheepishly. "Okay. Sorry, Mr. Prince." What's a commoner? * Seylin smiles charmingly at the trolls. "She meant no harm, honestly." I'll explain later. * Tia nods. "I don't mean any harm." Yeah, that's what you said when you destroyed the furniture the first time. ~_^ * Torlak looks taken aback, then relaxes as Tia does not, in fact, carry through in an attempt to kill him. He chuckles. "No harm done...." As the warrior speaks, he stiffens, and spins around, wiggling his fingers at the soldier. He barks, "Your opinion, scum, is noted and dismissed as idiocy. Will there be anything else?" [ The troll spoken to spasms suddenly, almost falling, but he's caught by the others. After a moment his head stops lolling about like he was drunk and he says, "Yes, Master." ] * Tia blinks. What happened to him? * Torlak turns back to the group. "He had a momentary lapse of judgement. Nothing to worry about." * Tia nods dubiously. "Okay." At any rate. Enjoy your journey. * Tia grins again. "Thanks, Mr. Prince!" Our thanks to you, Your Highness." -" * Istvan nods. Of course we will. ^_^ * Ariake bows. "Thank you!" Thank you, Your highness. * Seylin curtseys. "Again, our thanks, Your Highness." * Tia bows. * Vall bows to the Prince again, then starts walking away at a casual pace towards the town. * Tia wanders along behind Vall. * Torlak stands there for a bit, then starts walking off towards one of the fields. * HKenji bows one last time to the prince as his companions leave and then follows at a fair clip. * Ariake follows. * Patrick salutes him and smirks. * Tia hums. * Will follows behind Patrick, giving the Prince a slight bow as he passes. * Seylin heads along with the group. * Tia looks down at Vall when he turns toward her. We have got to teach you some lessons on how to address royalty. I'm sorry. I didn't know. * Vall smiles warmly. * Tia looks apologetic. I know. That's why I'm not yelling. * Ariake grins. * Seylin pats Tia's flank comfortingly. "It's all right. No harm done, and you really didn't know." I just wanted to be nice. * Seylin smiles. "We know." * Tia smiles. You'll do better next time. Won't you? * Tia nods solemnly. "No more hugging princes." With royalty, you have to remember that we're below them in their minds. You have to play to their ego, because unless you're also royalty of equal position, you can be killed on the spot by them. Position? I don't understand. They're like really mean professors, Tia. That's what matters. No matter the mistakes of the past, so long as you remember them, and learn from them. * Will smiles, "Always ask before hugging anybody Tia" * Ariake nods. * Tia nods. "Okay. I'll remember to ask. You don't hug professors, because you're supposed to show them respect. Same for royalty. To the royal mind, there's the king and his family at the top, the rest of the nobility under them, then their military, and then there's everyone else. Oh. But I hug professors. Sometimes. To them, we're everyone else. Tia, that's because the professors *can't* stop you. And some of them probably don't mind. But like Will said, it's best to ask first. Ask us, if nothing else, 'cause we'll help. Yeah. We don't bite. ^_^ Also, I think its best if the party had a spokesperson for situations like this. Okay. I will. * Tia smiles and wags her tail absently. * HKenji eyes Vall. The party DOES have a spokesperson. He's usually talked over by eager companions, though. * Patrick laughs. "Kenji's our spokesperson. So let him do his job." Who is he? (must've been decided when I wasn't around. :/ :) Oh, Kenji? Ok. You can do the talking. Well, I was gonna nominate Kenji anyway. * Tia grins. I don't have any problems with it. * Seylin smiles. * Ariake nods. "I'm not doing it!" Can we eat now? I thought you just ate some mushrooms a couple minutes ago Tia. I'm hungry again. * Seylin makes a face. "Maybe they have something to eat besides the mushrooms?" You know those mushrooms. They're like gurnese food; an hour later you're hungry again. I don't see why you keep insulting that food. It's quite good, and filling. Nah, I'm thinkin' they're like doughnuts. It just smells so bad. ... can we get moving, maybe? Your constitution is off balance because you consume so much meat. The mushroom tasted a little like one of those dead furry things I find in the woods sometimes. Rabbits? Probably from my traps? Eww. * Tia shrugs. "I don't know, but they smelled bad too." So it's not you then. ~_^ Patrick, I *hope* you go back and get them *before* they get that bad. Can I have a bath? * Istvan clears his throat. "Can we get moving maybe?" * Ariake nods. "Good plan." Com'on Sey, you know I wouldn't leave them in those traps. ~_^ Blame my early slave years for that, Kenji. We ate what we could get, and most of the time that was leftover meat. * Ariake starts onward, looking for a shop. You must have had a lot of meat to have extra at all. * Seylin grins. "I know. Else I wouldn't let you cook dinner." Table scraps from my drow masters, mostly. When the elves took me in, I found I'd developed a taste for it; I couldn't stomach their vegetarian food for long without getting sick. * Seylin turns her attention to Vall and blinks a few times. I like vegetables. [ And so, they went shopping and then went back to bravely marching, boldy onward, onward unto fate uncerta--*TWITCHTWITCH* ...yes, master. ] [ Session End! ]