Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 2.2 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 2.2
Bannihar The Serpent's Eye
The group has elected to try and negotiate with the serpents. Let's hope they get some good social rolls, shall we?
The gathering spent several minutes discussing options, but when became apparent that everyone had a different opinion on how best to proceed, Elesin cut straight to the chase, "Listen... they're beasts. Yea, maybe they can talk and sure, they MIGHT have occasional moments of not wanting to tear people apart, but-" she paused, "You know what? I really don't need to go anywhere with that-- they're beasts... and chances are they're NOT going to be in one of those rare, rare moments."
Lord Raes was quick to counter, "I have no doubts that we would be victorious, but, should we fight, that success will come at a great cost." he looked to the kangaroo, "They can talk, and if they can talk then they can reason."
"Feral parrots talk." Elias pointed out, "I won't object if you want to try and negotiate, but that's a calcuated risk, Lord Raes, and I'd rather not be that close to them."
"What he said." Elesin motioned to the Geomancer, "Do you REALLY want to risk the lives of some diplomats? That'd be throwing em to the wolves-- no offense, Priestess."
Kayte nodded, "I understand your meaning, Elesin. No offense taken."
"What do you think our chances are of being able to negotiate with them, Iskiy?" Roarg interjected.
The antlered wolf, who was situated toward the back of the gathering stood up and cleared his throat nervously, "Well... um... Serpents are usually not very smart. Most of them understand communication but not all of them bother."
"Sounds like fighting is the best bet." Elesin acknowledged, resting a paw on the hilt of her sword, the runes on her arms and tail glowing faintly as she grinned.
"If they're Wurms then we can probably get them to parley." the antlered wolf quickly added.
"How will we know if they're Wurms?" Roarg questioned.
"By looking for the right signs." Iskiy answered.
"Signs?" Elesin questioned with a roll of her eyes, "Like, 'Here there be Wurms.', or 'You just entered our land, signed, The Wurms'?"
The antlered wolf stared at her blankly, "Wurms don't know how to write."
Elesin let out a huff and, with an eye roll, left the circle.
"You knew she was just being sarcastic, right?" Roarg asked to the Wild Lander. Iskiy simply smirked in response. Roarg laughed.
"Do you know what kind of Serpents these are, Corporal?" Lord Raes inquired.
"Yes, sir." Iskiy nodded, serious once again, "They are Wurms."
"Well, then that settles it." Lord Raes acknowledged, "I would never ask anyone to do something I myself am unwilling to do... so I will act as the diplomat."
"Like hell you will." Elias stated flatly, "You have one of the Divine Shields... we can't spare you."
"The priestess has one as well." the dog countered, "Besides, if they attack, I am an effective combatant."
"Not against that many Serpents." Roarg pointed out, "I'm coming too."
"If we send out too many then they might not understand our desire to talk... they might think we're advanced scouts." Lord Raes proposed.
"Sir..." Iskiy spoke up, but waited until Lord Raes gave him leave to speak, "Wurms understand strength, and they understand numbers. If anything, having more people present will increase their chances of being willing to talk."
"See?" Roarg gave the dog a light punch on the shoulder, "I'm comin with."
"And I can keep watch from overhead." Sebastian pointed out, looking down on the gathering from the top of a nearby wagon.
"Well, Gryphon... you'd be the safest of all of us." the badger pointed out, "Wurms can't fly..." he glanced to Iskiy, "Right?" The scout nodded.
Lord Raes let out a sigh, "Very well... Roag Stoneclan... the gryphon--"
"Sebastian." Roarg and the gryphon added in unison.
"Sebastian, of course." Lord Raes acknowledged, nodding his head toward the gryphon, "Corporal Iskiy... you are familiar with these draconids?"
The scout shrugged, "Somewhat, sir."
"More than anyone else." Lord Raes confirmed, "I could use you as well."
"You have me, sir." the antlered wolf bowed.
"That's four." Lord Raes acknowledged and looked around, "Anyone else?" he quickly glanced at Kayte before she could speak, "You will have to remain here with your Divine Shield, Priestess." She let out a sigh, but nodded, and took a seat on a wagon's tailgate.
"I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on Elesin..." Elias spoke up, "...I've never been much at negotiation, but I have a lot of experience at preventing stupid people from doing stupid things."
"You... cat?" Lord Raes looked up at Alexander, who was idly carving a piece of wood as he sat atop Priestess Delier's wagon. After several seconds of no response the knight snorted, "No... I thought not." and glanced back to the rest of the party, "Alright... you two with me... gryph--- Sebastian... keep watch from the air."
With the plan formulated, the group of three each received a mount and they trotted further ahead of the caravan. "How will we know the Wurms are close?" Lord Raes inquired of Iskiy.
"Everything will go quiet." Iskiy announced and, no sooner had he said it that the all of the sounds of forest animals suddenly faded, "and an uneasy feeling of stillness..." he added. All of the wind seemed to die away, "and then you have a chance to say something like," Iskiy suddenly raised his voice, "We are not here as prey! We've come to talk!" the antlered wolf fell silent as three reptilian forms emerged from the undergrowth as fluidly as hunting cats, each nearly the size of a wagon, "and..." the scout noted in a low voice, "if you're lucky, they don't kill you."
While two remained on either side of the Highway, the largest of the three slowly circled the diplomats. It focused on the group intently, amber eyes glimmering with illumination of their own, defying the near-twilight conditions in the dappled sunlight of the wooded highway. It moved with a surreal, almost beautiful grace, but its sharp, scimitar-like talons and wicked teeth let everyone realize immediately that they were not looking at a work of art; they were looking at a killing machine... and it was looking back.
"If you talk..." the large one noted in a deep, guttural, barely understandable voice, "talk." it stopped directly in front of the party and unceremoniously flopped its hind end down onto the bricks of the Highway, staring straight at them, not unlike a gigantic guard dog, "Sooner you talk, sooner we eat."
"Oh... yes... of course." Iskiy fumbled, and looked to Lord Raes, who quickly took charge of the discussion.
"We mean to travel through these lands without conflict, sir." the dog announced, offering a slight incline to his head, "and wish to know if you--"
"Not 'sir'." the large Wurm announced with a snort.
"The largest Wurms are female, Lord Raes." Iskiy whispered.
"Madam." Lord Raes quickly corrected himself, "We want to be sure that you will not endanger any lives, either ours, or yours."
The large Wurm laughed at that, her entire maw hanging wide as she did so, revealing three rows of the viscous-looking, serrated teeth. Her talons dug deep into the Highway, piercing the stone as easily as a tanner's knife might cut through hide, and, by the time she had stopped laughing, her gaze was one of pure malice, and a killing intent. She spoke again, but this time it wasn't in the Imperial tongue. She gazed at the party, but her words were in the draconic language, and got an immediate response from the other two Wurms at either side of the Highway. All three crouched low in anticipation.
Roarg spoke up suddenly, growling and barking out something in the same language the large Wurm had used. If the expressions on the Wurms' muzzles were of surprise, then those on the faces of Roarg's fellow party members were of utter shock. The Wurms slowly rose up out of their lethal posture and the largest of the three demanded something verbally of the badger in the dragon's tongue.
"Please explain to me what just happened." Lord Raes inquired.
"Just a minute." Roarg replied to the dog, then dismounted and stepped forward, addressing the female Wurm in her own language. They exchanged several bits of dialogue, none of which was understandable by the rest of the party. Roarg motioned to himself as he spoke, then Iskiy and Raes. He motioned back behind the group, then motioned to a direction beyond the female Wurm, still talking.
All three Wurms sighed. The female licked her maw, and nodded to Roarg as she said something, eyes going directly to Lord Raes and Iskiy as she grinned, still talking. Roarg shook his head and motioned to his party members, then himself. The female snorted and responded gruffly... a rather amazing feat considering her voice already came out as a veritable growl.
Roarg looked back to his companions, "I've been given leave to pass safely... but these three still plan on eating you." he offered apologetically.
Lord Raes' paw went immediately to his sword, "They should know I am not easy to eat."
"Um... if I may?" Iskiy quickly interjected, "What they SHOULD know about is the injured drake five leagues back." Roarg and Lord Raes looked at the antlered wolf quizzically, "The one we passed?" the scout urged them on with a glance, "You know... because Wurms HATE Drakes and would LOVE to know that they could attack one without it being able to fly off."
Roarg caught on faster than Lord Raes, who suddenly appeared to understand the meaning of the comment while the badger was relaying the message in the Wurms' own language. "Oh." the dog acknowledged once all three of the Wurms' heads quickly focused off in 'that way', the direction which Roarg had pointed.
"You have luck." the female announced to the party, and she quickly rose her head and let out a bellowing roar. Not three seconds later, she sprang across the road in one leap, the two other Wurms following quickly. Before the party had a chance to react, they were forced out of their saddles as their mounts spooked and ran; more than a dozen Wurms sprang from the undergrowth and stampeded across the Highway, racing off after the front-runners.
"I don't think we would have won." Roarg noted, gazing off after the charging Wurms.
"It's a good thing we didn't have to fight." Lord Raes acknowledged. Holding up his shield, the dog announced, "Return to us." and, hearing the divine call, the mounts quickly halted their fleeing and came back.
Iskiy glanced sidelong at Roarg, "How can you speak with the Draconids?"
Roarg shrugged it off and climbed back up onto his mount "It's a talent I spent a lot of time learning after Sebastian came into my life." he looked up to the gryphon and made several motions with his paw. Sebastian, who had been circling, did a smooth wing-over to acknowledge the badger, and quickly circled back toward the caravan.
The scout pressed the matter, "Not many Wild Landers know the dragon's tongue... it just seems strange to see a City Dweller who--"
Roarg interrupted, "It saved our hides." and he glanced back at Iskiy, "What I want to know is about the ruse that got rid of the Wurms. I can't believe that really worked!"
Iskiy nodded, "Wurms hate flying draconids... Wurms will take any chance they can get to kill them and will attack whenever the advantage is theirs."
"But there was no wounded Drake five leagues back." Lord Raes pointed out.
"True." Iskiy nodded, "But the Wurms won't realize that for a little while." Both Roarg and Lord Raes stared at the antlered wolf, ears sticking straight up. Iskiy cleared his throat, "This is when we get back to the caravan and tell them that we're going to keep going forward... very fast."
That is precisely what they did.
* * * * *
The Banniharians have successfully overcome the Wurm threat thanks to some keen negotiation/manipulation on the part of Lord Raes, Iskiy, and Roarg.
Everyone (contributing and non-contributing readers) may vote for the character who gets 2.3 as a focus. Contributing readers can have their character spend 1 Willpower to get a Personality + Wits roll (diff = 20+). For every pt beyond 20 their character gets +1 vote toward being the focus of the next post. A maximum of 1 Willpower may be spent this way.
At this point, a Contributing Character may also spend a Willpower point to influence the direction part three of chapter 2 takes. If a Contributing Reader would like to further build a character relationship that is in the process of developing or provide a motive or direction for their character, they may spend a Willpower point toward this goal as well. Only 1 Willpower may be spent at this time, but a contributing reader may spend 1 Willpower for focus and for providing direction if they wish.
Contributing Readers, make sure you make your announcement of Willpower usage before midnight (pst) on Friday, July 1st.