HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

[The Whistler]

Avram nodded silently, but contentedly. Not that anyone had cause to cross-check this plan with a Rashemani, but it was still a good plan.

Sense Motive +17:

[dice]0[/dice]

[DeepShadow of FoS]

"I think sending out our various familiars will do the trick admirably." Lena said, glancing about herself to see where Leila was.

"I'll have to...go rouse Leila from her rest,"* Vasili mutters, excusing himself quickly in the direction of the guest rooms.

* Bluff +22 to keep something private about the search for Leila.
[dice]0[/dice]

[Nathan of the FoS]

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH...

The eavesdropping apparatus had been all but silent for perhaps half an hour when suddenly voices ring out.

"...stairs, see what's up there. Sasha, Tam, keep your eyes open!" Then a new voice, a woman's, in a Forfarian accent so thick you can't make out the words; unlike the first voice (the Nova Vaasan you heard first) she seems more amused than nervous.

[Nathan of the FoS]

To put the spying into effect, Vasili, Renhalt, and Lena end up on a ridge about a quarter mile from the aerie, where Lena can still feel Ushka's presence at the edges of her mage's sense. She and Vasili communicate briefly from time to time, co-ordinating the movements of their representatives, while Renhalt keeps watch on the surroundings.




The elected representatives, under the influence of Salbard's flight magic, reach Kaber Tor with a minute or two to spare. The tor is a cliff on the west (where Leila and Ushka are coming from) and fairly steep on its other sides; the half-ruined tower which must be housing the targets stands clear of the surrounding pine forest by a clear fifty feet of almost open ground. There is little light from the waning moon and the stars, but enough that crossing the open ground to the tower would be difficult even for (say) a fox, or a cat. A moment's glance shows two humans or humanoids armed with bows near the entrance; a more thorough examination reveals a wolf prowling purposefully at the edge of the forest.

After a quick consultation by their masters, Leila turns provocatrix, with Ushka standing back to await a chance to take advantage of her distractions.

Leila pads over around the wolf, trying to behave mostly like a curious cat in the wild. The wolf catches scent (or senses) Leila at about twenty feet and immediately growls deep in its throat, hackles rising. It neither retreats nor moves forward, seemingly sizing up this intruder before it takes action.

Ushka crouches low to the ground, ready to sneak inside if fur starts flying.

Leila retreats, trying to appear startled, as if this was all perfectly innocent. The wolf continues to growl, but as Leila backs away, it seems to decide against pursuit, instead backing slowly into the cleared space.

As the wolf moves back, one of the people near the door nocks an arrow and moves forward a few paces towards the wolf. "Cover me," he mutters to the other in a pronounced Nova Vaasan accent.

Leila darts forward into the perimeter the dog has created, coming as close as she dares while staying out of bite range. Then she continues forward out of the perimeter, swishing her tail at the creature teasingly as she heads back into the forest for an obtuse (clockwise) circuit around the tower. Neither of the bowmen shoots--probably because neither sees her--but nobody breaks discipline and pursues, either.

Deciding on a different tack, Leila circles almost to the cliff edge and then makes a dash for it, darting from cover to where she sees a gap in the tower's partially destroyed upper level. The man nearer the door turns toward Leila as she makes her dash, giving a muffled shout; at the same moment a owl somewhere nearby hoots loudly. "Somethin' went up the side of the tower!" he says over his shoulder. By his dress and accent, he seems to be a native of these parts, although he doesn't seem to be pure-blooded Rashemani.

Leila finds herself in a rather dark and mostly open space; the stairs leading down are obvious, and there are several pretty decent hiding places along the broken interior walls. Outside, Ushka, at this point, had an idea. She cleared her throat, and then released a most thoroughly terrifying scream before scampering back into the undergrowth. Maybe if the guards left their posts...

Leila pokes her head into the room below and finds herself looking into a large room--half the tower--with a Vaasi panther-hunting dog rather bigger than the wolf outside entering through a doorway on the far side. Rather than confront it, she ducks through a window and circles around the tower, looking for an way to enter the room on the opposite side. Outside, Ushka sees that no-one is deserting his post--certainly a lot more discipline than one would expect from ordinary bandits. A woman--an elf-woman, yet--appears at the doorway, looking out calmly but with sword in hand.

Neither Leila nor Ushka notices the great grey owl until it is on Leila, tearing at her back and uttering its hunting scream. Superb reflexes keep Leila from falling, but only just; bleeding, she ducks into the nearest window and finds herself surprisingly close to a red-headed woman whose face is covered with dark tattoos. Sharing her senses, Vasili recognizes her as a Forfarian druid.

Leila tries to keep her voice as low as possible. In Balok, Leila says to the woman, "Milady, keep silent! I am here to rescue you!"

The man whips around, longsword in hand; it's not clear if the druidess understood you or not, but she readies her quarterstaff and steps forward, her pale eyes calm. Addressing the man in Vaasi, Leila says, "You have been discovered! Release your prisoner, and my master can arrange for your escape to your homeland!"

The man's only reply is to step forward and thrusts, and Leila disappears like a pricked bubble.



MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH...

The eavesdropping apparatus had been all but silent for perhaps half an hour when suddenly voices ring out.

"...stairs, see what's up there. Sasha, Tam, keep your eyes open!" Then a new voice, a woman's, in a Forfarian accent so thick you can't make out the words; unlike the first voice (the Nova Vaasan you heard first) she seems more amused than nervous.

The scream of an owl, very faint, and about half a minute later, the authoritative Nova Vaasan voice:

"…just gone. Some kind of spell. Someone smoked us, but…well. We'll just check the deadfalls anyway. All scouts out as we go. On the hop."

"Oh, by the Name..."

"On the hop, cutter, out or down."


Perhaps sixty seconds later, Ushka sees four human men, the dog and the elf-woman depart the tower; one of the departing men whistles to the wolf, who falls in with them at a distance. Two owls fly up from the roof of the tower and disappear into the pine woods after them.

[NeoTiamat]

"Well that could have gone better." Lena said in what was a nearly Mordentish example of understatement. She must have been hanging around Richard too much. She glanced over at Vasili. "Are you alright?"

"Well, Freiherr Renhalt, what would you recommend as a course of action now?" Lena asked. He was the local nobleman, Lena was just helping out. "Ushka will likely follow them unless I call her back."

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Ushka watched the whole affair from a safe distance once her distraction effort had failed. One thing was clear, which was that these people were very good at the guarding job. One wolf, one giant dog, and two owls, plus some perfectly competent guards. The fox knew her limits, and after watching Leila get chopped up, she didn't care to try her luck. Instead, she got as good a look at the various humans and the elf as she could, and then skulked on afterwards at a safe distance.

Perception +21 to get every detail possible of the group's appearance; Note Low-Light Vision & Scent
[dice]0[/dice]
Total: 27

Stealth +19 to follow at a respectable distance.
[dice]1[/dice]
Total: 33

[Nathan of the FoS]

FORFARMAX, HAZLAN
UNIVERSALITY GREY WISDOM (June 27, 775, the day of the Lynx and Mugwort)

"...all the same, it would be very nice to know what there is on our lands that's worth that much money," Renhalt observes, returning to his own main conclusion about last night's mystery.

The conversation on the road to Forfarmax has mostly been of last night's events, although the fact that it's Vasili and Renhalt's totem day has also come up several times. An appropriate celebration has not yet been settled on, as neither of them really warmed to Altan's suggestion that they honor the day with a drinking contest.

"You'll like Forfarmax, though, Altan," Renhalt observes. "Someone with your tastes shouldn't miss out on uisguebadh."

Forfarmax itself proves to be a rather ordinary small town or large village, remarkable chiefly for its number of redheads and the grim, decrepit castle overlooking the settlement from across the Musardin. Renhalt is regaling you with a story about its haunting when Marcel shouts, "Tara!"

A redheaded woman in green and white turns at his shout and hurries toward you, her face breaking into a smile. She's a handsome woman, perhaps in her mid-thirties, with a clear, open expression and laughter lines at her eyes. "Marcel!" she replies. "And, oh, ah, freiherrs and freyins. I am honored."

Marcel effects introductions, closing with, "And this is my good friend Tara Kolyana."

[Isabella]

It was only Marcel's introduction that snapped Richard into awareness, as he'd been staring at the newcomer just a little bit too long to be anything resembling appropriate. Which lead to him suddenly realizing he ought to bow, ignoring the fact he'd turned several shades paler - though it wasn't as low a bow as he would usually give, as if he didn't dare more than to incline his head and shoulders. He stared at her a moment more, opened his mouth as if to say something, then seemed to think the better of it, clutching his Ezran shield, shutting his eyes, and bowing lower.

(Detect "Evil")

Maya the panther took the lapse in her Master's attention to tug a few more inches from her leash, going over to stare at the red-headed woman, her mouth slightly open.

[Kaitou Kage]

Altan feigned disappointment at lack of a drinking contest, but before long he'd drowned himself in another flask. The young Mulan either produced them from nowhere or had some kind magical source of endless alcohol because he'd been sipping non-stop.

"I look forward to it," he said. "What exactly is uisguebadh?"

Then the redhead appeared. Altan looked up and pursed his lips. After traveling with foreigners for so long, he'd grown used to such hairy creatures in his company. Still, the color of her hair startled him, and he drew his lips into a tight line.

"Greetings, Tara Kolyana," he said. "What brings you into our path?"

[NeoTiamat]

Lena, in stark contrast to Altan, was cheered to be at Forfarmax. People actually had hair here, and Lena had fond memories of a certain redheaded Forfarian student at the University of Dementlieu -- also from Barovia, so it was someone to speak the language with who wasn't a shady Borcan.

She was about to greet her fellow Barovian (Kolyana was a Barovian name if ever there was one) when she saw Richard's reaction. Last time he'd been nearly panicked was when meeting that very, very strange Vistana, so Lena decided she could take a hint. Time to turn on the charm offensive.

"What an absolute pleasure to meet you." Lena said, favoring the other woman with a heart-melting smile. Lena was good at those. "Baroness Elena von Zarovich of Volkadav, but please, any friend of Marcel can call me Elena."

Not quite as informal and friendly as Lena, but a step up from 'Baroness von Zarovich'.

"Are you an anchorite of Ezra as well?" She inquired politely. The fox on her shoulder, meanwhile, stood up and sniffed at Tara, Ushka's namesake ears wiggling a little in curiosity.

Charm Offensive. Diplomacy +23
[dice]0[/dice]
Total: 29

[Nathan of the FoS]

Tara Kolyana notices Richard noticing her; politely giving him a chance to compose himself, she makes a polite half-curtsey to the Jarenbergs and a slightly smaller fraction of the same to Altan, and nods all around to the rest of the company. She gives Lena a much closer look as the Baroness is revealed to be a Von Zarovich--perhaps a not entirely pleased look--but she is all respectful politeness as Lena introduces herself. "I hardly know how to respond to such an invitation, Baroness," she says. "You're far too kind. I do indeed have the great honor of serving Our Lady of the Mists. To answer your question, Freiherr Isfahani, I have come to counsel one of my flock who finds himself near eternity." She makes the sign of the Sword and Shield as she says this. "Might you give me the honor of your company, Brother Boudreau, or will I take you from pressing business with your traveling companions?"

She gives Richard a considering look, as if wondering whether to invite him too.

[Isabella]

"We-we, ah, we... we h-had been pla-planning to-to-to stay the night, Fre-Freyif...yin?" Richard managed, his eyes now planted firmly near his feet, and his near-white cheeks now flushed a dull rose. He shot Marcel a helpless glance out of the corner of his eyes - he could hardly invite himself, even if he was sure he wanted to - before gently reigning Maya in, lest the poor woman be buried in curious, fuzzy creatures.

[NeoTiamat]

"Well, let me know when the response comes to you." Lena said with a wry smile, drawing Ushka back as well. The fox, somewhat annoyed at this, leapt down from Lena's shoulder in a movement rather more like the unfolding of a spring, and then went to see what else was interesting and/or edible around here.

[The Whistler]

"And this is my good friend Tara Kolyana."

Avram smiled, and bowed what he judged to be the respectful amount — or, roughly as low as one might to a friendly Vaasi national in the skilled trades, with a little extra depth for safety. “No freiherr, I: only Avram ben Mansur, in service to these worthies. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kolyana.”

"I do indeed have the great honor of serving Our Lady of the Mists. To answer your question, Freiherr Isfahani, I have come to counsel one of my flock who finds himself near eternity."

The Lawgiver must have decreed a temporary ban on unprovoked doctrinal debates for the day of the Lynx, because Avram only looked sympathetic. “A sober task indeed — I know it from experience. May you guide them well, Ms. Kolyana.”

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Vasili also notes how deeply Richard is affected. Hellhounds, a succubus, and now an anchorite? But this was hardly a typical anchorite....

Having reverted to his public persona, Vasili watches the others with his characteristic stare, before turning to Renhalt. "Renhalt, I have a riddle for you: what has a Barovian name, Forfarian hair, Borcan deity and a Mordentish manner of worship?"

[Kaitou Kage]

Altan huffed and sipped from his flask. Dedicated Ezrans were, in his opinion, marginally better than Lawgiver devotees. Richard acquitted himself well enough and earned respect. But the Ezran faith as a whole evoked disdain.

Not that this was evident. Altan proved adept at hiding his feelings, and he kept his dismissal off his face.

"Well," he said, "where can I find the best uisguebadh?"