Saving Summerford - The party before the storm - RPLOG
Participants
Date
11/12/478
Log
The trip was as long as it was uneventful. The heavy wagons travelled slowly, burdened with food and building materials purchased from Firmament. Rolls of cloth, loops of rope and bundles of netting bulge out from under tarps fluttered by the harsh northern wind coming from Cliffside-way.
The circle of caravans stops in the outskirts of Summerford, near the cemetery grounds that greet new visitors coming in from Firmament. Atop the hill in the north the hearth fires of Summerford's homes provide scant illumination for the dusking evening. Up that way is the center of Summerford, the only area with two-story buildings, the home of the Mayor herself and all the major stores, shops and services in this small village. The wagon being ridden by passengers rather than cargo is the last one to stop, and with a gesture the exhausted fox being driving it urges the passengers to hop off.
Fenris gives the weary driver a pat on the shoulder and slips him a few extra coins for his trouble and for keeping the tiger company on the long trip. He slips down from his seat beside the driver and alights on the ground. The big tiger is in his customary long leather duster, his Lightbringer and Divine Sentinel insignias jingling together on his belt. "Why are we stopping outside of town?" he asks curiously, "Do they think we are going to call the bugs down on them?"
Bazalt Sighs and Stretches as he Exits the wagon. "Urrnn joy.. That ride.." he nods and grins "welp buuug hunting time.. ish-sorta..." he Rubs a spot on his neck "atleast. the nightmares have stopped.." he shrugs. "Meehh... " he shrugs again grumbling "I really Shoud probs get shoes at some point...."
Kilani clambers down from the wagon, her height not proving advantageous for this kind of transport. She stretches as she lands on solid ground once more, adjusting her clothing and smoothing out any wrinkles that may have accumulated, tilting her head at an awkward angle to get a better look at all the other travellers that came along. She spent most of the ride looking at the floor, and had thus acquired a stiff neck and a rather detailed knowledge of various critter's feet. "Perhaps. Do you think something may have blocked the road ahead?"
Cara yawns for a moment and as she pokes her head out of the back of the caravan. "Guh, that was an uneventful ride." As expected, she appears to be wearing her usual attire for the most part. When she makes contact with the ground after stepping outside, she begins to stretch her legs for a moment as she spies the insignias on Fenris's belt. "Maybe they're giving us a chance to get ready first before we head over there. They could be giving us some important information that might make the job easier on our part." She turns to the unfamiliar bat and shrugs, "Or that too."
The moment the wagon stops, a little commotion could be heard from underneath the passenger's wagon. A quick rolling ball of purple appears from underneath before the object begins spreading it limbs exposing the shape of a being, and what a being, none other than the Jester, standing in their gaudy dress and mysterious mask, "A village in need, a swarm of aches to feed. No knight on a steed, but a nuisance is here to plead. An hour of fun is what this place needs...." the Jester suddenly stops whispering something to themself about recycled words, but at least their offer was made plain, at least to some people.
The vulpine driver looks down at Fenris and shrugs. "Beats me fella. They don't want any wagons going up all the way now. Makes life ruddy inconvenient for all of us." True enough, the wagons are being unloaded onto the roadside by the various beings that came with the caravan, while several of the locals can be seen walking down from the hill in the distance, likely to help with the unloading process and to carry things back up the road. A few of the other passengers begin the opposite journey, travelling up the hill towards the center of the village and the main area of residence.
All around waft the scents and sounds of farmland. In the late evening most of the livestock is being herded out of the pastures and back into their barns, while all the farm work has stopped and the workers return to their homes for a well-earned dinner.
"Good stuff, good stuff!" A male ringed salamander dressed in a guard's uniform walks out from behind one of the wagons towards another as he inspects the goods. "This is exactly the stuff we needed, I think. Good job!" He's addressing another being, a blue-spotted salamander in civilian garb that's walking alongside him. He was about to say something else when his attention is caught by the being disembarking from the passenger wagon, and particularly by the Jester that leaps out from underneath it. ".. the heck?"
Bazalt sighs "probabally a way to try Keep the krick away.." He Streatches some more before headding towards Zane. "How's it been, anymore. of them? missing cattle?" he asks, Glancing around, it was hard to Picture Zuri comming from this quaint place.
Cara gets to stretching her arms now as she looks to Kilani for a moment, "So, from the looks of things, I take it we're going to have to walk to the infested area." As she finishes up with her stretching, she walks closer to Kilani and asks, "So, other than the Krick infestation, how do you think Zuri knows about this place?"
Kilani shoots a strange look at the rhyming... thing... the bat keeping a level expression as she looks them over, before giving a little shrug of measured indifference and strolling over to the edge of the road, surverying the countryside out in the distance. "Walking through the infested area surely won't be enjoyable. Nor easy, for that matter. Would there be an alternate route around?" She turns around, looking a the driver, the salamanders, and at the tiger. "Preferrably one that won't take too long."
"He's from here," Fenris answers Cara, then he spares a nod for the approaching salamanders before his attention is caught by the jester. "Ah," he says, "You again. What did you have in mind?" He looks to Kazel. "The . . . infestation is quite a way off road," he explains, "We won't be taking the cart."
Zane finally looks away from the Jester as he notices a familiar face approaching. "Eeey-hey! It's the Freesword that jumped in front of all the Krick he could. You're looking mighty healthy partner, better than last time I saw you." He looks around at the other confused passengers and walks in their direction. "Woah woah, calm down everyone. There's no infestation in town. Town's plenty safe." Clayton follows along quietly, looking at all the faces as if memorizing them. "Just don't go into the forest, alright? That's where the trouble starts." He pauses as he recognizes Fenris' voice, and turns to regard him. "Oooh boy, you as well? That's grand! Y'all come on up and come meet the rest of the folks." He moves off up the hill, gesturing for the gathered beings to follow along. Clayton stays behind, walking back to the wagons to help with the unloading.
Bazalt nods to Zane "I didnt JUMP in teh way..they jsut.. liked me.. or something."the wolf glances back at Cara and frowns "they've not nor willt ehy get to teh town.." he shakes his head. "So.. how's thigns been though?"
Cara smiles slightly for a second, "Thank you, Fenris." As Zane asks everyone to follow him, she obliges and begins to walk after him. However, before she can get too far from the group, she turns around and grins, "Also, for anyone who doesn't know, my name is Cara." At that point, she continues to walk along with Zane. As she walks along with the group, her ears twitch and she responds to Bazalt's question, "Well, they've gone pretty well for the most part. Although, I'm mostly wondering which would work best on the krick though. Flaming arrows on the hive or just sending out heated air."
Fenris gives a look to the beings unloading the carts, then nods and follows Zane. "After all the fun last time?" he smirks, "How could I stay away?"
Kilani follows along behind the salamander, the wolf, and the female tiger, the bat walking relatively quietly compared to the others. It's quite a fun mix of beings here, seemingly. She nods at the various things people are saying, listening carefully, documenting anything. In response to Cara, she speaks up, "Well met, Cara. Likewise, I'm called Kilani, for those I'm unfamiliar with. Which is... most of you, actually." She shoots another glance at the rhyming thing before keeping her eyes focused forward.
The Jester simply frowned and grinned on Fenris, no wait that is the mask again. After a quick glance around, the Jester simply marches into the direction of the village, making no effort to keep pace with Zane and the other beings, "An hour of fun, a chance for dancing and prancing. A little vocal song to entertain the locals." they add in their sing-song voice as they prance across the road towards the village.
The salamander being grins at Cara. "Nice to meetcha Cara. Name's Zane, I'm the bailiff 'round here. If ya want to speak with the Mayor or have any trouble with the locals you come to me and we'll sort you right out." He looks at Bazalt and nods. "As you say buddy. So are you here to get your revenge on the suckers? You're in early, we were only expecting mercenaries tomorrow for the big day." After a moment's pause he adds. "But y'know, maybe it's a good thing you came here early. We might need your advice on a few things." He glances back at the Jester and smirks. "And I'm sure the kids would love some entertainment. They've been downright terrified lately. They know something big's happening tomorrow but it's hard to explain to youngin's that we're about to kick in a nest of blood-hungry flying vermin and that it's going to get nasty for a lot of folk. But they can sense how anxious the rest of us are."
The group of beings is halfway up the hill now, and already the warmth of lit hearth fires and the scent of evening suppers being cooked is enveloping them. Zane smiles at Fenris. "Fun he says. Ha!" He pauses, then grins. "Ha! 'Suckers'! I made a joke without even realizing it!" He looks rather proud of himself as he continues his stride up the hill.
The first sign that something has changed are the two tall wooden poles on either side of the road just as it begins to crest the hill. More poles can be seen in the distance, evenly spaced from each other.
Cara shrugs for a moment, "Well, taking out a load of kricks is just an ordinary day for me. Then again, they probably aren't all in the same area when I do it. Also, thank you for the information, Zane." She begins to sniff for a moment and she licks her lips, "Well, I can see you got everything prepared." With that, she turns to rest of the group, "The fact that the infestation of the kricks might in a forest complicates things. At best, I'll probably be able to help in guiding them through air magic, but that might be it."
Bazalt nods "mrrm Advice?.. Dont know If I can help.. but I'll try.." he nods. "what's the feast and poles for?.." he asks, Glancing at the jester-thing and frowning. "so.. whats with the otehr wagons?.. the things on teh otehr wagons, why are you having them stop outside the town?"
The Jester had already abandoned the uncivilized act of walking and was cartwheeling on the side of the road along the group, their hat's bells jingling and jangling with every movement, "Son, you can't have fun with just running and gunning, but being in the sun with a fresh bun, but for that, the day first must be won." the blithering idiot says idly at Zane, "Fight insects with fire, but beware lest the forest be burned." Looks like that is the Jester's advice on the matter.
Fenris walks along quietly for most of the trek. "I give up," he finally says, "What are the poles for?"
Cara stares at the Jester for a moment and chuckles nervously, "Ehh, hehe. Well, I sort of mentioned not to do that though." She looks to everyone else for a moment with a confused look on her face, which basically reads, Maybe he might have an idea? I could be wrong. Then, she turns to the Jester with a small smile on her face, "Okay, does anyone have a plan on what we should do in order to eliminate the krick infestation? What happened last time?"
The salamander sighs. "Yea, sadly for us the Krick are a huge nuisance. We thought we were rid of them, but now they're back and in greater numbers. We have to bring the cattle out under guard, and usher them in as soon as it starts to get dark. Even then we've lost half of them. Luckily we have yet to lose any more folks to the vermin, but we've had a few close calls. And one retired guard." He turns to Bazalt. "The poles.. eh.. they were a bad idea. Someone thought of making a wall to ward off the blighters. String up some net, make a huge tent of netting to keep the bastards away from the populace. Turns out that requires way more netting than anyone would have anticipated. Good idea tho, gotta credit Clayton for coming up with it I s'pose." There's some resentment in the salamdander's voice. Some of the story is left untold. "As for the wagons, just a precaution. Nothing to worry about." He smiles at the group before gasping. "Oh hey, I'll go get Lilly to make y'all some stew for supper. She must be just about starting dinner." The salamander gestures towards the center of the village, then hastens off to a side street, presumably to his own home.
The center of Summerford is largely unchanged. Various beings mill about, a few guards man their posts around the plaza, and the gardens are being tended by a young salamander girl just like every day. The large open ground near the Mayor's office has been turned into an impromptu workshop, with various tools and workbenches strewn about, and a variety of what look like outfits being put together out of netting and cloth. Several salamanders (and one wolf) labor away under the supervision of an elderly salamander being.
The jester continues cartwheeling towards the center plaza, 'stopping' in front of the workshop, and by stopping one obviously means that the jester is upside down on their hands. The fool raises one hand and balances themself on the other to give the working being a wave and a thumbsup before they changed directions and went to the natural spot of an entertainer in the center of the plaza near the shrine. Without a word, the Jester then produced three apples, seemingly, out of thin air and began juggling.
Bazalt Nods slwoly "Good Idea yeah..-No, no forest fires..." he shakes his ehad and sighs. "Hrrmm.. Mostly the sa-a wolf?... wasnt there a fox last time?" he tilts his head and frowns slightly. "hrmmm, anyplace I can stay here, overnight that is?" he asks, glancing back at the wagons. "I...Left my pack behind...didnt I?..." he facepaws and Sighs "eugh-my luck."
One of the bat's ears twiches at the mention of fire, especially one burning through the forest. The thought of so much burning... displeases her. She gives a few affirmative nods to the explaining salamander, before she leans on one of the poles quietly. She leans on one of the various buildings as they enter the village, crossing her arms and looking at each of the beings with a neutral, expressionless face, although her gaze lands on the jester for a few seconds, staring quietly, before continuing her looking around.
Cara looks at the performance for a moment and grins, "Thanks, sir!" and begins to scratch her chin for a moment when an idea comes to her. Cara immediately jumps into the air with a small smile on her face and runs over to Fenris, "Ok, here's an idea, we could just make a fire outside of the forest and then we could as a group, guide the krick infestation directly into the fire.
"A forest fire would be both overkill and ineffective," Fenris says firmly, "The Krick nest in the trees and brush, but the main problem is the Queen." He looks around at the other Freeswords. "Killing off the swarms is fine and dandy, but the queen will just keep making more," he explains, "And this is no ordinary Queen." He suppresses a shudder at the thought of the thing he saw in the darkness of the caves on his last trip out here.
"That won't work." Comes a voice from behind the group in response to Cara's suggestion. The blue-spotted salamander from earlier walks up to the group, offering them a slight smile in greeting. "I mean, it might work to kill off a bunch of them, but you're going to have to go into the hive itself to kill... the thing." Clayton visibly shudders. "The.. their queen. She's nested quite deep underground. I was there, saw her and her thousands upon thousands of childen swarming about." He looks around as if looking for someone, before returning his gaze to Cara. "You folks are going to have to go in there. Into the heart of the hive. That is, if you want to stop this once and for all." He smiles at Fenris, seeing in him someone that has the right idea.
The Jester's performance is met with confused looks at first. The elder salamander supervising the workshop turns around slowly, eyeing the Jeste incredulously. Other salamanders around the plaza shift their attention to the performance, even some of the workers from the workshop.
Fenris nods to Clayton. "Amos is an old friend of mine," he says to the salamander, "He filled me in on what you ran into." The big tiger smiles at the Jester's antics. He would join in if he was not otherwise occupied. "The real trick will be getting at her," he says, "There are probably thousands of Kricks that defend a hive like that, and I confess, I have never heard of a Krick Queen growing to that kind of size or a hive that is so prolific. Usually they would split long before the swarm could grow to this size." He looks to Clayton. "The nets are a good idea," he says, "But only to keep off casual blood sipping. Even a suit of armor will only keep those things out for so long if they are intent at getting to you. How have the swarms reacted to smoke? Have you tried it yet?"
Cara slowly begins to frown for a moment as the severity of the situation dawned on here. "Well, that's not good. Hmm, thanks for the good idea, Fenris. I'll keep that in mind too although, I'm wondering if turning into a phoenix while inside the hive might help in creating smoke. I'm not too sure if it'll work at all though."
The confused looks do not stop the Jester who keeps on their juggling act, giving each item a wide breadth as if to invite more items into the juggle pile, "A mean queen causing a scene. a situation ever so grave, but fear not for there are the brave. They will stave off the armies from the cave, and deliver the village unto safety filled with daisies and pastries."
Bazalt GRumbles and sighs. "I...need my pack.." he nods and Spins Round headding abck for the wagon. "then.. find a place I can rest up and wait.." he nods to himself "hrrm.. Would if the krick can get past scales?.... Might be harder.. but the wings.." he Frowns, mumbing to hismelf as he walks back to the wagon
Clayton shakes his head. "No, don't think smoke was considered. We mostly thought outright fire, nets and.. uh.. moving away. Some folk have been saying we should just up and leave to the north, closer to the border and away from these things. I guess it might work.." He glances over towards the workshop, and the Jester. "You know, Malachi would be the salamander to ask. I'm sure he'd have a solution for that."
The Jester's performance is drawing more eyes, and various beings are walking out of their homes to watch. Even some of the youngin's filter out to watch, some of them still eating their evening meal out of a bowl. The elderly being, Malachi, walks up to the Jester with a bright, wide smile, watching with the same fascination as the others.
Fenris cat let that one go. "Daisies and pastries?" he laughs, "Really? That does not even rhyme. Your getting lax, Jester." The tiger waves farewell to Bazalt and relaxes a little, jamming his hands into his pockets. "I have yet to see a phoenix who put off smoke, Cara," he says amiably, "But I am sure you are more than welcome to try it out."
Fenris follows Clayton's glance to Malachi and saunters over to join the old amphibian watching the Jester's performance. He reaches into his coat and produces a number of small objects, a glittering stone, a small, round fruit of some sort, a short bar made of some sort of metal and a pair of small, tightly sealed pouches that he proceeds to toss toward the jester. Might as well keep things interesting. Once the harlequin has all the items bouncing about, he produces a long flute from within his coat and starts to play an upbeat tune.
Kilani cocks her head, ears flicking to the side a little. She approaches the salamander and the tiger, wishing to contribute some potential solutions to their problems. "You said they were in a cave? If they're deep underground, have you considered collapsing the cave and trapping then inside? Or perhaps creating an explosive that would do so? It would seem attacking them directly would be a bad option, and fire would be ineffective." She nods, before one of her ears twitch and she glances over at the jester and the other tiger, her head cocking and ears twitching. "What a curious sight..."
Cara slowly turns to face Kilani for a moment and she smiles happily, "That's probably one of the best ideas that I've heard all day. After all, it's not like the queen is located directly underneath the town and if we have enough Freeswords here to pull off a feat like that, then we should be able to take care of the queen in no time at all."
Clayton follows the group, listening to them intently. "Huh.. collapsing the cave. We did collapse one of the entrances into the hive, and walled off a few others, but that place is a cobweb of caves and passages. The Krick keep finding new ways to pop out." He mulls it over. "But if you collapsed the entire chamber the Queen is in then.. you'd pretty much squish her under a lot of rubble. That might work." He looks towards the Jester, a small smile pushing through his gloomy demeanor.
Malachi notices one of the youngling salamanders entering the area and heads over. He picks up the little one and pecks a kiss at his cheek, then turns around to continue watching the juggling alongside whom is presumably his son.
Fenris plays light accompaniment to the Jester's antics as he moves slowly through the gathering crowd toward Malachi. He stands by the old salamander's side, content to simply play for a while and let the crowd relax and let go of some of their fear. There is no rush to get to business, after all.
The Jester continues to juggle as Fenris starts throwing objects at the figure. The Jester takes all objects as they juggle, working with their hands a bit before finally falling into a pattern. The Jester eyes the children surrounding them, quickly throwing one of the apples towards Malachi, then handing the other two apples to the nearest two salamander kids.
Cara smiles, "Great, so, it would be a good idea to assume that the proper plan should be to run in, find the Queen, and collapse the cave as we run away from swarms of kricks." In the meantime, she turns to stare at the Jester and lightly tosses another apple to him before looking back to the rest of the group, "Do we have anyone here who specializes in earth magic or make an explosive of some kind?"
The impromptu performance is quickly turning into an outdoor party as locals of all ages gather around to watch and dance along to the jovial tune. One salamander starts clapping a rythm to the tune, and within a minute most are clapping along together, setting a metronome-like rythm for the performance. Malachi catches the thrown fruit, laughs, and hands it over to his little one while watching the show with him.
Out from the guardhouse exits a female salamander, looking to be in her late thirties. She looks around with some confusion, but smiles as she figures out what's going on and steps out to join everyone else. The other villagers step out of her way, letting her walk past to the inner edge of the impromptu half-circle that is forming around The Jester.
Clayton seems more interested in discussing the specifics of how to deal with the hive, and turns to Cara to speak with her. "Well, there's Jillian. She's the hearth mage that comes over every so often to bless the crops and bring the rain. She's not around right now. Maybe one of you Freesword folks is handy with the earth magic?" He glances around briefly before returning his attention to Cara. "Also, if you're going into the hive, I want to come with. I want to.. uhm.. I want to be there when it's all done." He looks at Malachi and adds. "Also, you should speak to Malachi about his idea. I think he means to make armor of some kind to protect against the Krick somehow.
Fenris stops his playing, laughing at the sudden gathering. "A guitar!" he calls, "I can't talk while I play the flute! Someone bring me something with strings!" He grins at the old salamander as he catches the apple. "Malachi, right?" he asks, "You are the local alchemist, aren't you?" He spares a smile for Cara and her enthusiasm, but he needs to talk to the alchemist first. "I hear you have some ideas about the hive? I might have some things for you to think on as well. What do you have that smokes?"
Cara slowly begins to frown for a moment, "Well, I have a staff and saber that was sort of inspired by the creator's use of fire. I could just easily make something that's flammable as well. We could also use dry grass, dead wood to make fire too." She sighs for a moment, "Unless someone has a cigar of some kind. That might be helpful and I'm pretty sure flaming arrows leave smoke."
The Jester continued their juggling, grabbing Cara's thrown apple before quickly setting it one of the salamander children's snouts as he continued his juggling act, accidentally dropping one of the objects to the ground with that trick, Fenris's ball of metal in fact, but the jester quickly recovers by using their leg to lift the bar upward and throw it back up with no little effort. One wonders if the bar of metal was really that heavy or not.
Malachi nods at Fenris. "That would be me, yes." He smiles, then gestures towards the improvised workshop. "I do have a few ideas, yes. Namely that these bugs are awfully similar to bees." He waves at the fox that's still working away at one of the suits, and the sullen being waves back in reply. "That there is a friend of mine from a neighbouring village. A village of beekeepers. We're making some bee-tending uniforms for anyone to wear if they go too close to the hive. Or into the hive." He says pointedly as he looks back at Fenris. "That smokes? Hm.." He glances over at Cara, catching wind of her conversation. "You know, it's Lantana season. Lantana's this weed that we have to pluck out of the ground, or else it kills the autumn seeds and ruins the soil. Lantana burns very smokey, and has a citrusy scent, kind of like orange. Makes good incense. And it's plentiful." He looks back at Fenris. "Think that will suit your needs?"
Clayton is distracted by the Jester's antics, finally. He actually smiles and laughs at the act with the metal bar. He looks to Cara and answer. "All of those sound appropriate. Grass might do the trick. Do you think smoke will scare them off?"
Not a minute has passed when a small salamander youngin' is tugging at Fenris' trouser leg and passing him a banjo before running back to stand by the female that came out of the Mayor's office, who's watching everything intently.
Fenris smiles at Cara. "It will take rather more than a cigar," he says, "We are not talking about a little beehive." He smiles and thanks the shy youngster, then starts to pluck delicately at the strings. He starts out a little slowly, as if trying to remind himself how the instrument works, then he works up to a frenzied, upbeat piece and turns to talk to Malachi. "That sound like just the sort of thing we could use," he says, "The Rangers do something similar when they are taking out a rogue hive. The trick with these things is you need to get both the queen, and as many of her drones as possible. That way none of them has a chance to take over the hive. After that it is just clean up. The smoke should help make them drowsy. We can definitely use that."
Cara nods and answers, "Well, than we can just use something that will cause as most damage to as many of them as possible. If it's underground, then wouldn't that be a good time to collapse the cave on them or set the queen on fire? Preferably, the collapsing the cave will do just fine. Also, thanks you, Clayton. This information is very useful."
The Jester looks around before they finally begin closing their act, throwing Fenris's objects back at him before they finally hand the balance the remaining apples on random children's noses. With that, the Jester bows, before they begin cartwheeling into the sunset, well not the sunset but the road back to Firmament.
Clayton nods at Cara and returns his attention to the Jester and Fenris as they entertain the bedraggled village of mostly-salamanders. Soon the celebration winds down, the salamanders disperse again, and Malachi invites the Freeswords to his home to spend the night. The brief respite afforded to the locals will end in the morning, when the Freeswords will make their move to attack the hive and take out the Queen once and for all.
