In reply to Ailith (msg # 760):

The villagers seem to be sated.  Or they realize there are no more baskets.  You've sold them all.

Coq is grinning.  He's done well.  All his scarves and the robes he brought sold.  And he did a good job on the baskets.

Master Olk comes by as you two are packing up.  He examines your trades and overall seems pleased.

He slaps you on the back. "See?  You learned quite a bit today I wager.  Any questions or observations?"

You move your things into the guest tent.  As the sun starts to set, the villagers start to gather in the common area.  A large fire is set up and various cooking pots are set out.

Coq nods at the fire.  "It's usual for nomadic villages to share a communal meal at least once a aday."

Olk nods.  "And we are invited.  Come on.  Let's see what we can do to help."

Thankfully, they don't ask much.  Just some help filling cups with water for everyone to drink.

They serve a mildly spiced soup and some fresh dumplings.  Maybe you're just hungry, but they both are good.  Really good.  No one will mind if you have seconds.

As you are finishing your meal, Nyl saunters up.

"Hello again.  Remember me?

"I've been thinking about that abacus you had earlier.  Could I see it one more time?  Please?"

Surprisingly - or maybe not - Ailith was more happy that Coq's scarves had sold well than that her own baskets had. But when one considered that she had been the one to suggest something along those lines involving Coq, maybe it wasn't soo strange.

“Hmm.” Ailith tentatively agreed with Olk. “_{I prefer the making over the selling though...} Lots of people wanted to trade nuk for the baskets.” But at least she was done, and wouldn't need to see baskets for quite some time now.

She was finishing her second serving of dumpling - selling and haggling was hard stuff, yes sir! - when Nyl came back. “Uh, sure,” He nodded distractedly, “I guess.” She lifted her bowl, “Give me a moment to deal with this.”

Once done, Ailith led Nyl to her abacus, and showed it to him curious herself, though it was of course about his interest and not the abacus itself.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 762):

Nyl follows you back to the tent assigned to you all.

He holds the flap open for you and follows you inside.

You go to the box where you had placed the abacus and start to pull it out.  As you do, Nyl suddenly comes up behind you, wrapping one arm across your shoulders and holding the edge of a knife against your throat with the other hand.

"Quiet," he  hisses.  He's silent a moment.  "I'll ask you once and only once.  So no lying.  Who taught you about ahr thym ahmung huh dahrknez?"

He sounds just like Llewelyn at the end of his question there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Fri 28 Oct 2022.

Ailith froze, not daring move nor say anything, not even to answer the question in fact. Until prompted once more by Nyl anyway.

“Taught me what?” She asked a question of her own, “You sound like an Interloper, and I don't understand their language...”

“I have no idea what you're saying... Can you...” She swallowed with some difficulty, “lower your knife? Please?”
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Sat 29 Oct 2022.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 764):

"I'll lower my knife if you can answer this one question.

If you don't speak the language of the Interlopers, how do you know I sound like them?"

Ailith blinked. Had Nyl been in front of her, he would have seen an incredulous look on Ailith, though it likely transpired in her answer. “Because there's one in our village?” 'Duh', might have been added, had Ailith not have a dagger on her neck.

“I'm more or less apprenticed to him, so...” She almost shrugged. “Of course I know what they sound like.” Dumbass. was something else Ailith could have wanted to add, but she was too concerned with staying standing, not move, and not pee herself to consider it for long...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 766):

There's a long pause.  "So you're tainted then.

"Tell me.  Have you seen anything odd lately?  Like people who may not really be-"

SQUONK!

The knife suddenly presses against your throat but not in a slicing motion. You think you can feel the edge of the blade make a shallow cut. But you're too busy tumbling backwards to be sure.

Hammer and Foot have flown into Nyl.  They are pounding into him while squonking furiously.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:30, Mon 31 Oct 2022.

All Ailith could do was to open her mouth, about to retort angrily that he was the tainted, aggressive and rude one. But before she could even began - which might be for the best considering the situation... - she was interrupted by Foot and Hammer, who had completely skipped her mind. Something for which she felt a brief moment of shame.

But more importantly, it gave her the opportunity to exit the tent by any means necessary, no bothering with the cut for now. She didn't do so silently though. “Help! Help! Someone's attacking me!”

Still, really not wanting to forget about Foot and Hammer, she turned to them both to see what was happening and to tell them, “Don't let him catch you, get out!” After all, while she obviously didn't want anything more to happen to her, she didn't want anything to happen to either of them, no matter how dismissive Llewelyn was of the both of them.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 768):

Nyl swats at Hammer, shouting at your retreating back, "Apostate!"

Olk and the husband with the big fist come running over, Olk obviously alarmed at your shouting.  They duck past you and into the tent.

You hear some noise and then Olk pokes his head out.

"Who was it?  Whoever it was, they seem to have slipped out under the tent flap.  The herder I was with went after them.  Are you okay?"

No sign of Hammer or Foot.

Ailith, obviously shaken, removed her hand from her neck and looked at it, then showed Olk. “No? Yes? Maybe?” She breathed quickly, on the edge of a meltdown. “He said he was Nyl. He called me an apostate.” Not that Ailith had any idea what that was except a bad thing to be apparently...

With a gasp, she ducked into the tent herself to look for Foot and Hammer. “_{Foot, Hammer?}” she called low, trying to not draw too much attention to what she was doing exactly.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 770):

Olk peers at your neck.  "I don't think he cut too deeply.  Let me find some bandages."

You poke your head into the tent.

Squonk

Squonk

You get a duo of squonks when you call their names.  They fly up and hover not far from your nose.  Squonking at you.

Hearing, and seeing, both Foot and Hammer, Ailith exhaled in relief. “_{I was afraid he took or hurt you...}”

With that relief, adrenaline left her, the shock coming to the fore. The young apprentice sat on the ground, where she began to tremble obviously on the edge of tears, draping her arms around herself.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 772):

You feel something wrap around your shoulders.  Coq is leaning next to you, putting a robe around your shoulders.  He taps you gently on the arm.  Hammer and Foot seem to have hidden themselves.

"Lean your head back.  I have some bandages."

One of the village women comes through the tent flap and pushes him aside gently.  "I'm Ogo, the village healer.  Let me see?  That's not too bad..."

She smiles at you gently and takes the lid off a small pot she has in one hand.  "I'm going to apply a salve and then bandage you.  Young man?  Go out and tell one of the women that Ogo asked them to brew a tea of hov'ah.  They'll give you a cup of hot broth.  Bring it here please. It'll help the young lady calm down."

Coq nods and scurries off.  Ogo takes a finger full of brown goo from the pot and you feel her rubbing your neck.  There's a short, burning sensation than it's just pleasantly warm.

"Any burning sensation means the salve is doing it's work.  Do you feel a bit better?  What happened exactly?  Were you hurt anywhere else?  Did he say anything weird to you?"

Ailith followed the instructions she was given, if a tad woodenly. “He wanted to talk about my abacus.” she answered, trembling from time to time. “Asked me about it. Spoke just like the...” she paused, swallowed gingerly, glanced at the lady, then continued, “like the Interlopers do. Told me I was 'tainted' when I mentioned them, and accused me of being an 'apostate'.”

The young apprentice wrapped herself more tightly in the robe, hoping she would be able to disappear in it. “I don't even know what that mean...” At least Foot and Hammer were safe, that was something.

Still... At that moment, Ailith wanted nothing more than get back home and never again step foot in the North...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 774):

Ogo listens quietly as she finishes treating you.  The tent flap starts to move as Coq seems to be returning.

"Don't say anything to your friends," she whispers to you.  "Just think of him like a mad man.  You're safe for the moment."

Coq hands her a stone cup, which Ogo hands to you.  It's warm and the liquid inside smells both sweet and savory.

Taking a sip?

“He certainly didn't sound right in the head.” Ailith muttered, now calmer.

She did look at tad suspiciously at the cup though, while smelling the beverage. “Is it like nuk?” She asked doubtfully. She hadn't paid too much attention when it had been requested from Coq and she was pretty sure it wasn't the name it had been called, but... “I'm not supposed to have nuk, makes me all...” she waved her hand in a circle, as if it explained anything.

Once reassured that it wasn't, in fact, nuk, Ailith drank.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 776):

"It's not.  This is a hot beverage we use to help us get some sleep."

It doesn't taste like nuk, that's for sure.  It's warm and sweet and savory just like it smelled.  You feel calmer by the time you've finished half of it.  And pleasantly sleepy.

"Lay down for now.  You should sleep until morning.  I'll come back and check on you then."

“Alright.” Ailith drank the cup, then stood. “It's good. Better…” she yawned, “than the nuk. Thank you.”

Before she settled down to sleep, she asked, “You're sure he's not coming back?” She had Foot and Hammer, but while they could warn her, there was little they could do on top of that after all. And that guy had sounded crazy enough to do something like that.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 778):

Ogo smiles at you gently.  "Even if he does, we know to watch out for him now.  Don't worry.  Our hunters will not let anyone hurt you.  Just call out if something happens"

Coq watches her leave, and then checks outside the tent flap.  He signals no one is there.

He glances around.  "I thought I heard squonking.  Are you okay?  And Hammer and Foot?"

As if they were waiting for someone to call them, they both fly out from under a blanket, and then hover in front of you.  Making soft, muted squonks.

“I think.” Ailith answered Coq's question, while looking Foot and Hammer over. “He wouldn't have left if they hadn't scared him.” She looked at both drones. “Thank you.”

“But be careful, I don't want to see you hurt.” She squinted, though her tough appearance - or pretence at one anyway - was thoroughly spoiled by a mighty yawn, “Even if that means someone else seeing you. We'd just say you the Interlopers’. Alright?”

“Now, uh, good night…” She yawned once more, then was out as soon as her head touched the pillow.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 780):

You dream of knives.  And squonks.  Lots of squonks.

When you come to, Master Olk is seated nearby.  He's got a bone of some kind that he is studying, probably planning a piece of scrimshaw from it.

He sees you stir and sets the bone aside.  "How do you feel?  So you know, the one who attacked you seems to have gotten away.  The villagers say he is an itinerant merchant who comes by the village twice or so a year.  Just happened to be here when we arrived.

"I'll be honest.  I'm a bit concerned.  We were supposed to stay for two more days.  But do you think you can manage that long?"

“Uh...” Very eloquently replied Ailith, blinking in surprise at finding Olk next to her as she woke up. Then before she could say something more, she was interrupted by a yawn.

At least that gave her time to make sense of the situation. Gingerly putting the tip of her fingers on her neck, she answered. “I'm...fine? I'll be happy to go back, but...” She shrugged, “I'll be fine. As long as he or anyone like him doesn't come back.”

Since she didn't really want to be alone with anyone though, she supposed it didn't matter all that much.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 782):

Olk nods slowly.  "I've been asking around.  it seems there are some up north who aren't happy about the Interlopers.  Very unhappy.  I don't know, but maybe he's one of them and they somehow knew you were apprenticed to Llewelyn.

"Have you said anything about it to anyone here?  Or do you know why he thought you were associated with an Interloper?"

“Hmm.” Ailith shifted, clearing her throat, obviously very uncomfortable. “Well, uh, hmm. In the middle of his questions, he started to speak like an interloper. I said something about it, and he asked how I knew.”

“I, uh...” Ailith looked away. “I guess I, uh, more or less told him that I was, uh, sort of, apprenticed to one, more or less?” She grimaced, then did her best to hide her head between her shoulders.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 784):

Olk lets out a long sigh.  "It's alright.  For now, rest up.

"I think I'm going to send you and Coq back with a couple of the drivers in the morning.  Since we don't know if there are any more of these...whatever they are...roaming about, I think it's best to get you out of here as soon as possible.  Finish up any business you may have.  And rest up tonight."

Anything Ailith wanted to finish here in the village?  You have an afternoon to do so.

Thanks