[PF] Children of the Snow IC II

[Prehysterical]

It's honestly hard to tell which would would make the villagers more uneasy. Luckily, it seems like Youta is willing to give Yarl and the rest a chance to handle Godelieve while things are straightened out. "That sounds fine.

Actually, would you mind if I took Grundy down to Jorlaskan? It would give him the chance to practice his Clanspeak before the convoy arrives. I'd hate for us to plan so much only to have negotiations break down because of a misunderstanding."

[RandomWombat]

"Grundy won't be joining the expedition, at least not this one. We would be sending a translator, but Yachi herself is quite capable in that regard," turning to the diplomat, Youta motions for her to continue the thought.

"First contact is something I've been trained for as part of Youta's department. In case we were ever discovered by the surface dwellers and had need of a diplomat. If you'd give me a chance to 'localize' myself, I would be glad for a chance to practice my linguistics among the Jorlaskan. There's no need to worry about anyone recognizing me later, I'll look very different from this diplomatic outfit I'm in now."

[Prehysterical]

In a way, Yarl is sad that Grundy won't be coming along. He is going to miss the dwarf's optimistic cheer.

"I see... Then would you be willing to gather your things and we can head out?" Huma could do with the exercise and Yarl wants to keep himself busy.

[RandomWombat]

"Certainly. I'll meet you outside?" Yachi offers.

"If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask. Do you have enough provisions?"

[Prehysterical]

Yarl nods in response to Yachi before telling Youta, "I won't say no to food and water. With all the damned running around I do, who knows when I will get to eat next?"

Spoiler: OOC

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That's a lot of Y's, isn't it?

[RandomWombat]

Spoiler: OOC

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Not intentional, I swear

"I'll show you to it, then," Youta motions for Yarl to follow, as Yachi goes off in another direction to get ready.

The director leads Yarl to one of the buildings in the residential area. This time, Yarl is drawing more attention from the dwarves, who previously had tunnel vision for their own tasks. It seems word is spreading about his posse's achievements in the north. Still, where young clansmen would be clamoring all over him for stories, the dwarven children remain oddly implacable before they return to their play-training.

Inside of the building must be where they keep and distribute their food stores. There is a dwarven woman here manning a counter set into the opposite wall of the entrance. There is a door set into the wall off to the side, for the clerk to go in and out. Behind her, they can see a metal door leading deeper in.

"Hello Izzy," greeting the woman with a familiarity Yarl isn't used to hearing from the director, Youta steps up to the counter.

"Hey You," Izzy answers, cracking a smile. "This the talk of the town?"

"One and the same. He's here for some provisions before he sets out. I think a three-day food pack should do for now, hm? And some water," looking back at Yarl apologetically, Youta adds, "We've nothing to feed your bison, I'm afraid. We had to collect grasses from topside for that while he was here."

"Sure thing," the woman goes back into the metal door. When it opens, Yarl feels a rush of cold air go through the room. Are they using the same method they used to create the artificial winter to make their food stores last longer?

A few minutes later, she exits with a few leather pouches with frost on them and a tube-like metal container, placing them on the counter. Youta takes out a few small yellow slips of parchment and sets them on the counter for Izzy to collect.

"I understand they've not much of a taste for bugs up there?" Izzy half-asks, half-observes, "So you've got a lot of mushroom bread and mole jerky there, and only a few ant legs."

[Prehysterical]

Using cold to preserve food... what a strange idea to someone who has grown up with winter breathing over his shoulder.

Eyeing the parcels as he puts them into his bag, Yarl responds, "There's actually talk of whether illusionary horses would be a better choice over ants for first contact. Volsagi fear their own kinsmen. If the convoy is too strange, they might not let us inside if they deign to speak to us at all. Part of the plan is to get inside and make the people of Volsagi aware of what's going on. Otherwise, the thanes can just spin it however they like."

[RandomWombat]

"Not a lot of options for the kinds of livestock you're used to, down here. Giant ants can live off of just about anything, and they can be used as food or as pack animals," Izzy explains, "Giant spiders can carry their riders over walls, and even ceilings, so they're real good for traveling in the underground. The webs and spider silk are a nice bonus too."

[Prehysterical]

"These things may be true, but it gets cold topside and I've never seen an ant or spider who didn't go scrambling underground when the snow began to fall," Yarl points out.

"Thank you both for your help. I'm going up and guiding Huma to some grazing. I don't want him losing weight with all this riding that I'm putting him through."

[RandomWombat]

"Very well. Yachi should be out to meet you shortly."

Izzy gives Yarl a small salute and a grin, "We should be thankin' you. Take care up there, big guy."

[Prehysterical]

Yarl smiles before leaving the shop and heading back to the surface. He leads Huma to a place nearby where some grass has been able to hide away from the snow cover.

[RandomWombat]

There are a few places Yarl can locate hardy mountain plants for Huma to graze on. It's been a calm day out so far, but a thunderstorm is beginning to brew above.

It's about ten minutes before a dwarf exits the hidden tunnel to join him. If Yarl didn't know better, he wouldn't recognize the dwarf as Yachi. She's wearing a fur greatcloak over leather armor, and carries a long curved sword across her back. Her formerly neat hair is a wild mess, and he has what appears to be a scar down one side of her face. An injury which has seemingly left her blind in her right eye, the organ being white and glassy. She looks the part of an unusually short outlaw.

[Prehysterical]

Spoiler: OOC

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Dude, what's with the exclamation mark?

Yarl still starts at her appearance, caught off-guard by the transformation. Hopefully, it would prove even more effective on the Volsagi. He grins ruefully.

"Our Trickster would approve. He loves making disguises. He even made me a disguise for sneaking into Volsagi the first time.

We'd better get moving. I don't like the look of those clouds and I'd like to be under a roof when they decide to let loose." Yarl mounts up on the bison now that he's had a chance to graze and extends a hand to help Yachi up into the saddle.

[RandomWombat]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I have no idea. Must have hit it by accident or something. I was so confused by what you were talking about at first, ha.

"Always been a talent o' mine," Yachi remarks with a grin. She accepts Yarl's offer and climbs up into the saddle, behind him. "From playin' dressup as a kid to guerilla warfare. Who knew?"

The storm worsens as they make their way down the mountain towards the Jorlaskan tula. A bolt of lightning streaks across the sky, followed by a violent crack of thunder. They're only about halfway down when the downpour starts, falling from the sky like a sheet of wetness that instantly soaks the landscape - and anyone caught in it.

[Prehysterical]

The wetness forces Yarl to ride a little slower than he would like. Huma slipping on anything would be a disaster.

To distract himself from the elements, Yarl asks his passenger, "Have you ever seen it rain before? I know that most dwarves have never been above ground."

[RandomWombat]

"Most haven't. Like Werona, it's part of my job to keep tabs on the surface world. It's in a sorry state right now I've got to say, but with the north cleaned up maybe we can change that."

Thankfully no bisons become giant tumbling snowballs today. Eventually the ground levels out and they're able to carry on at a better pace. The Jorlaskan tula can be seen in the distance.

"At least I had the forethought to use waterproof makeup," Yachi comments on her disguise, "Ha, seeing this big scar literally running down my face would confuse some people. And then they'd get suspicious once that wore off."

[Prehysterical]

"But the North is not cleaned up," Yarl emphasizes with exasperation. "There's a demon cult to Lamashtu in the abandoned settlements and the trolls are gathering for war for the first time since Orlanth walked this world. The plague has been stopped, yes, and gods be praised for that, but we've got plenty of work still to do."

Waterproof make-up? Such a thing seemed like it would be a good trading commodity... Riding up to the gate, Yarl shouts the preliminaries,

"It's Yarl Baldursson, back with a friend! Open up! If anyone makes me sit out here in the rain while they check with Gol, I will ram the gate down!" Yarl wouldn't, really, but he was getting tired as still being treated as untrustworthy.

[RandomWombat]

"Yeah. But there's not a giant fleshy hivemind eating up all our time and resources," Yachi points out. "That means we're free to start solving some other problems."

On the other side of the gate is Anabeth, who opens it when she recognizes Yarl's voice. She wastes no time on catching him up to the situation, "Edwina's unit is here. She's speaking with the Clan Ring - and Solomon - in the hall."

[Prehysterical]

Yarl relaxes when he recognizes Anabeth's face. "Finally, things are going smoothly for once." Yes, it was early to be saying that, but thank gods for small favors.

He rides past her and heads straight for the clan hall.

[RandomWombat]

When Yarl passes the guest lodge, he sees the rest of Edwina's unit there. A few recognize him, and one of them waves - the distraught woman from the Golangi holding cell. Their horses are nearby grazing on patches of grass.

Ahead awaits the humble Jorlaskan Clan Hall. A small Clan, it has a likewise small Clan Ring. Though if rumors are to be trusted, they are all rather potent spellcasters. One of them is Quinten, the old researcher who was present in the aftermath of the troll attack. The other two are a middle aged woman with platinum blond hair, and a younger man with bright green eyes and dark brown hair.

Each of them, as well as Gol and Solomon, is seated in a circle. Edwina is standing near the entrance, and hasn't sat down yet.

"Yarl," Gol greets him simply. Edwina turns to look behind her at his entry.

"This is a real crazy plan your friends are trying to rope me into," the militia captain tells him, looking skeptical of the situation.

"Somebody has to make a move. Better that it's us."

[Prehysterical]

Yarl smiles and acknowledges the woman with a small wave of his own. Apparently, she was more trusting of him, now. He helps Yachi off of the bison and lets Huma loose to graze if he so desires.

Inside the hall, he greets the yeti with a nod. "Chieftain." Turning to Edwina, Yarl assures her, "I wouldn't have advised it if I didn't think it was necessary. There can be no 'peace' talks if Godelieve continues to instill fear in the hearts of the Volsagi." He indicates his companion and tells the gathered Orlanthi, "May I present Yachi of the dwarven clans. She will be the ambassador between her people and the Orlanthi."

[RandomWombat]

"Hey there," Yachi greets those assembled gruffly.

"This... assassinating one of my own Clan Ring. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but... Godelieve. If it was anyone else, but, Godelieve. If any one thing makes me believe this story about Conor being possessed it's that she remains on the Clan Ring at all. And with what Solomon's been saying about Conor and the trolls, and that troll-face makeup she always wears," Edwina looks around at the other faces around the modest hall, "That can't be a coincidence. I want to know what she knows. I want to help. I can't promise the same of my unit, I'll need to talk to them first."

"I understand. A leader has to put their people before themselves," the Himmiskan chief nods in understanding, and approval.

While the others discuss the plan, Quinten is eyeing Yarl anxiously, fidgeting with the page corners of a journal open in his lap.

"I want to know about this magic controlling the trolls," the green-eyed man states, "If you think Godelieve has answers, we should capture her. Killing her, we lose any information she could give us."

"I agree. And we don't need to kill her to take her out of the equation, not right away," the blonde agrees. She is wearing light chain armor atop warm clothes, and carries a battleaxe at her side. Where the two human men, Quinten and green-eyes, look like scholars, she looks more familiar with a battlefield. There is a scar across her chin from what looks like a brush with death; any lower and the blow that left it would have sliced her throat open.

[Prehysterical]

Troll-face makeup? Somehow, Yarl had forgotten about that. One would have thought that such a detail would have stuck out to him.

Yarl responds to the Clan Ring with, "My biggest concern is that we know that she is a magic-user and I don't want a repeat of what happened in Golangi. If we can capture her alive, fine, but if keeping her alive brings only more death, then I will not have that blood on my hands."

[RandomWombat]

"Actually," Edwina speaks up, "She's not a magic-user, at least as far as I know. Her scythe is magic, but I've never seen or heard of her casting spells."

"Doesn't hurt to be cautious," Gol adds. At first it seems like he's going to elaborate, but it seems the pause was just him finishing the thought.

"So, I'll talk to the rest of my people, and then bring you your answer?"

"Yes."

"Remember, your patrol will be missed if there is too much deliberation."

"I know," standing from her place in the meeting circle, Edwina bows her head briefly to Chief Gol and exits the hall.

[Prehysterical]

With Edwina stepping out, Yarl begins explaining the identities of the people present to Yachi. "So, the yeti is Chief Gol. He will be your first point of contact. This is my own chieftain, Solomon. The woman who just stepped out is Edwina, and she is going to be one of our most useful allies inside the walls of Volsagi. She understands the threat of the trolls well enough and will vouch for us."

[RandomWombat]

"These are Quinten, Marcie, and Ijor," Gol introduces the Clan Ring in turn; the elderly scholar, the warrior woman, and the young mage.

"Good to meet ya," the dwarven woman greets them with a grin, "So, this Godelieve you mentioned. Do we know where we're setting the ambush?"

[Prehysterical]

"I had not picked any spot out yet," Yarl admits, "but we want it far away from any bystanders. Gol, who around here knows this country the best?"

[RandomWombat]

"I know the land well. There is an old Volsagi mine in the mountain. Dry, abandoned," Gol answers the question himself.

"If Godelieve believed Yarl was hiding out there, she might take the bait," suggests Solomon.

[Prehysterical]

"That might work, but let's check before planning on that. The last time that I thought a mine was safe, someone almost died because of wights."

Yarl smirks. "If Godelieve is half as petty as I think she is, she must have been furious at my escape. Capturing a Himmiskan resistance fighter hiding in the wilderness might be too good of an opportunity to pass up."

[RandomWombat]

"I'll have some scouts check the place out," Marcie offers.

After some thought Solomon pitches another idea, "Godelieve might also be crazy enough to follow us north. You might have a hard time finding somewhere to set up an ambush, but there would be no interference."