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[SeriousConcentrate]

Peter rolled his shoulders and leaned in different directions, checking how his wounds felt now that they had been tended to. There was still pain, but it wasn't that bad. He felt they would heal right up. "Thanks, Ochita. You did a fine job," he said, reassuring the Spaniard. After the initial bumpiness of the inspection it went smoothly, after all. As he finished speaking, Juan walked up as well and announced his intentions to go ashore. "Of course I'll accompany you. You need only ask," he said. He checked his equipment, making sure it was all in the proper place, and nodded to Juan, indicating he was ready to follow at any time. If Ochita didn't want to go, he would be safe here, but he felt that any of them wishing to go ashore would need an armed escort. Except for Kriegaxt. As an Orc he was probably tougher than all of 'em.

[quip]

"So, now that we're officially the laughing stock of the town should we go meet the others?" Richard asks Edwyn. "I can't belive he made us eat that stuff... Ugh, just my luck."

[Ochita]

Ochita checked the bandages one time, before replying "Thanks, although I wish I could understand the human body more.. If I slipped up.. Oh, yes. I would like to go ashore, find out some stuff about the dragon we're supposed to appease, maybe see if I can't learn a trick or two..."

[Weirdsound]

Kriegaxt:

Mayta responds as she shoves a piece of bread down her throat. "Well... That's not the first time somebody has complimented me like that. Still I think it's the first time I've been complimented by an Orc, so thanks." She clinks her tankard against yours and quickly finishes up her breakfast.

The bright elf finishes her breakfast quickly and springs to her feet. "You can finish your food while we walk, lets move!"

You are lead back down the winding pass to the beach. You arrive to see a strange humanoid with a conical shell covering his torso and a long and boneless snail like head. He wields a lance covered in runic oaths of destruction and wrath, and robes warning of terrible curses to those who would harm him. He walks with a limp and has several holes in his shell which seem to be patched up with black tar. He is flanked by 5 guards.

Mayta approaches him and bows deeply. "Greatings great Scumpoison, priest of the seas, steward of the Kracken, and arbitrator of Crabrants wrath. If I may ask... what in the name of the divine happened to you?"

The coneshellman lets out a sound. You can't tell if it is a laugh or a sorrowful wail. "Diplomacy my child. Diplomacy happened."

Mayta nods. "Shall we get started then?"

Scumpoison smirks and points out to sea where a small boat carrying most of your friends can be seen rowing to shore. "We are waiting on them."

Richard and Edwyn:

You arrive at the beach to see Kriegaxt and a bright elf talking to 6 weird looking snail people.

"Shall we get started then?" the elf asks

"We are waiting on them." the shelled freak replies pointing out at sea towards the approaching rowboat of the Speedy II.

"I think we were waiting on those two as well Mayta." Kriegaxt anounces pointing in their direction. "After all, Sir Edwyn is in charge of our entire expedition."

The Coneshellman turns to Edwyn and regards him coldly for several seconds. "If you don't mind sir, I would like to reserve my greeting until your colleagues arrive."

Those aboard the Speedy II:

You begin to board the rowboat and to your surprise the sea elf Oliver joins you. His face is solemn and he offers a good morning without so much as taking a shot at Juan, Ochita, or Spaniards in general.

The boat is lowered into the water and the group begins to row. As you aproach the shore you spot the rest of your group, as well as an elf and a bunch of Coneshellmen. You identify Scumpoision from a distance by merit of his distinctive lance.

You reach shore and most of the group gathers around Kriegaxt, Richard, and Edwyn. Gabe approaches Scumpoison and addresses him in his tounge of wails and screams. The Coneshellman nods. "I'll have somebody meet with you this evening around sundown. I have to deal with these outsiders right now."

With that Gabe breaks off from the group and head up the sandy path towards town. Juan quickly bolts after him...

Juan:

"Ye don't have to follow me. I assure you whatever Scumpoison has to say is of much more intrest than anything I can do." Gabe declares as soon as he notices you on his tail.

"I have a gift for your father." you answer "I'd like to give it to him in person, and I have a feeling that following you would be the best way to find him."

The halfling nods sheepishly and leads you on back to the merchants guild, where sure enough you find Kumar in the main lobby. He dose not look happy.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EVERYTHING HOLY DO YOU MEAN? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE BRIGHTLEAF! WE HAVE A CONTRACT!"

A heavily armored bright elf in the corner shakes his head. "I'm sorry Kumar. With those wooden monsters off shore and the Kracken spotted last night the captain wants all his men in town."

The old halfling takes a deep breath and lowers his voice, although you can tell it is still very much filled with venom "I can assure you they are not monsters but potential trade partners. And what if I paid the captain double for your services?"

The elf sighs. "I doubt the captain would belive you or accept your offer. You are going to have to find somebody else to guard your caravan Kumar. I don't like it anymore than you do, but that is just the way it is."

Kumar hangs his head in defeat. "Alright, I'll find somebody else to escort my wagons to the capitol... you can go home Brightleaf. And prepare yourself for a promotion. I'm going to have a word with Amourox about this, and I have a feeling there will soon be an opening for the position of captain of the guard."

The elf leaves and Gabe calls out to his father. "Kumar sir. I have returned from the wooden monsters. The news is mostly good."

The old halfling shrugs "I need some great news right now, but I think I can settle for mostly good. Come to my office... Juan was it? Come as well."

You are lead back to Kumar's office where Gabe recounts his adventures on the ship. Kumar seems a bit put out that Sergent Shellslime was killed but is otherwise impressed. "Very well Juan. Now that you have my attention what exactly did you want from us again?"

Those back at the beach:

Mayta walks over to Scumpoison and for about 10 minutes they whisper in hushed voices to one another. On several occaisions Mayta points to Kriegaxt and Scumpoison gestures in Peter's direction. Eventually they break their huddle and the Coneshellman calls out to the group.

"I am Scumpoison, servant of the god Crabrant and the king Deathsting. I bear the honor of being able to speak for both. With me this morning is my staunch ally Mayta of Myval, defacto leader of the nearby land village. What business to you have in our seas and on our lands?"

[Dwarmin]

Kriegaxt seems a bit nervous. He was never good speaking in front of crowds!

He whispers to Lord Edwyn "Perhaps you should make the official introductions?'"

[Kadzar]

"If you will recall, I wanted you to let our men build a dock in your town so that our expedition team could unload supplies and our people could trade with you. You sent your son, Gabe, with me to make sure I was telling the truth. I came back with him so that I could be there when he gave his report and to give you this."

Jaun set down his pack and rummaged around until he found the cigar box. Then he opened it up and took one out to demonstrate it.

"This is a cigar. It is composed entirely of rolled-up leaves from the tobacco plant. to use it, you cut off this end here, light this other end, put the unlit end in your mouth, inhale, swirl the smoke around in your mouth a bit, then exhale. I guarantee it's like nothing you've experienced before.

"Also, it seems your caravan needs an escort to the capital. I believe I may be able to help you in that regard."

[scriver]

Edwyn nods. "I do believe I should."

He step forward, while inspecting the odd couple. He did still not know exactly what power they commanded here, but they were undoubtedly important. To care for. Removing his hat, he takes a bow before the priests. "Your Eminence Scumpoison, Your Grace Mayta, I am honoured to stand before you. I am Lord Edwyn Redshaw Strathwyke, heir to the Viscount of Strathwyke. I - and my fellow companions - have come to these lands on behalf of my king, His Majesty George the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the faith, to seek aid in the great war against our enemies. We come with no belligerent intent, as visitors to your lands in search of knowledge and friendship."

He stood up straight again, resting his hands firmly on his cane in front of him. Strange creature, this sluggish man. As if God had mashed up a man and a snail by mistake, and given the result a shell to hide the mistake. Edwyn wondered to himself how the beasts of Remembrance would look like, if grotesque beings like that were civilized and willing to talk.

The elf woman made him curious as well, if not to the same extent. He would not have expected someone of her position to flaunt her body in such obvious ways. Of course, he had not expected the people of these lands to be alike his own either, but still. Peculiar.

Edwyn let the attention fall onto his companions as he introduced each of them in turn, before addressing the priests directly once more.
"I hope we have crossed neither you nor your lords by our unannounced arrival. We have nothing but the best of intentions for being here."

[Dwarmin]

Kriegaxt takes a courtesy bow as he is introduced. Voice trembling a bit, he says...

"Great Scumpoison, my name is Kriegaxt Brandt, as Priestess Mayta has undoubtly informed you-Honored to meet you, Sir. My goal here is to seek lore and knowledge of the ancient times, and bring back that knowledge to my own people. My own land is currently occupied in this great war Edwyn speaks of, and I aid this party with the hope we may one day bring it to back to freedom, and Europe itself to peace."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Peter stood at attention, as he ought, and waited to be specifically addressed with questions or orders from Lord Edwyn.

[quip]

Richard also stood to attention, though his lack of interest in the conversation may have been more to do with fatigue than profesionalism

[Weirdsound]

Juan:

Kumar nods and grabs a cigar, looking one over. "A good portion of my business involves brokering the trade of smoking herbs between the sea people and the capitol, but I have never heard of tobacco before. I'll have to give it a try, who knows, if it is good and we can set up regular shipments I can cut those bickering brine-heads out of my economy completely."

The old halfling places the cigar in his pocket and turns to Gabe. "Run the rest of the pack to the alchemists. I wanna know if this stuff has any potential. Also fetch me whoever the hell is in charge of writing up contacts these days, we shall write up a deal favorable to all parties involved."

Kumar leans back in his chair and lights the cigar on one of the wall mounted candles. "Not bad. Now lets get to business. I own all the coastal land near the village and would be happy to lease some to your people. You could have the costal plot of your choosing anywhere within 10 miles of the village, and I'd even see that a suitable path or road is built to your docks."

He takes a deep drag of his cigar and pauses briefly, pondering his next words. "I guess that leaves the less than pleasant issue of my terms. Generally when seaborne merchants arrive they offer about 7 percent of the value of their cargo as tribute to Amorux. The dragoness generally lets me keep a portion of that as a finders fee. Seeing as I will be providing the land for your port, I feel I deserve a bigger cut, so I will insist that your ships offer her 13% of their worth."

Kumar pulls a dagger from his pocket and sticks it into his desk. "There is also the matter of security. The Coneshellmen are a disorganized people, united only by their hatred for the menfolk. It wont matter how many of their leaders assure you they mean no harm, sooner or later some slimey bastard will lead a force against your holdings. As soon as I get a new and more loyal captain of the guard installed in this town I can provide guards for an additional 5% of each ships value. Of course, from what Gabe tells me you folks are more than capable of defending yourselves."

The halfling locks eyes with you. "On that note, how exactly do you propose to help me with my caravan situation?" He rests his elbows on his table and his chin on the handle of his blade."

Before you can enter a female halfling bursts into the room with a quill and parchment. She introduces herself as Leait and Kumar repeats to her the terms for the dock he had just told to you. Leait writes furriously and within 10 minutes produces a contract. "Take this to whoever is incharge among your group and have them bring it back to sign in my presence." Kumar says as he hands you the parchment.

Everybody Else:

"I don't think you offended anybody yet Lord Edwyn." Scumpoison says softly. "You have however managed to frighten everybody along this entire coast. It is not everyday you sea surface boats bigger than houses. Until I received proof to the contrary I was entirely under the impression that they were some sort of monster to smite."

He sighs deeply and drops to his knees. "While we are on the topic of how I received proof that you were not in fact driving monsters, I would like to offer a sincere apology on behalf of my people for the events that transpired last night. Although my faith forbids me from offering gifts in exchange for forgiveness, I am aloud to compensate you for the one sailor lost in the process of confirming our venom is effective on your kind. This morning I can give you a chest of pearls or two enslaved mermaids. Your choice."

"And I personaly have offered Crabrants temple a sum of gold so that Scumpoison can provide you double the traditional payment." Mayta chips in without even a hint of a smile on her face. "You will receive 2 chests or 4 mermaids."

Scumpoison gets back to his feet and walks over to Edwyn. "As for finding aid for your cause, I would suggest having such a discussion later. Mayta finds most war distasteful. Perhaps I could visit your ships again tonight under less violent circumstances?"

The strange snail-person beckons to Mayta and begins to walk down the beach. "If you excuse us, Myval's priestess and I must discuss matters of divine importance. The priestess requests that Kriegaxt join us. Edwyn, when you make up you mind as to how you would like to receive payment let one of my guards know. They can understand the language spoken in this village even though they cannot speak it themselves."

[Dwarmin]

Kiregaxt nods, then turns to his friends for a moment "I doubt any of you received my letter last night, but I made contact with one of this lands God-Beings named Myval, who has offered me worship in exchange for three tasks-related to protecting his Priestessess. It's a worthy goal, even if I were not being offered the benefit of his worship, to protect the innocent.

I passed the first task-by dispatching some errant thug with magical power who claimed to be acting under the orders of something called the "Bloodline"-and now I believe I will receive my second task.

As I have seen the demonstrated power of this Being, I've no doubt they could have easily destroyed our ships, and would have, if I had not visited the shrine. Thus, I believe finding Myvals favors can greatly aid us in our quest. I can give you more depth later, but for fow, if you'll excuse me..."

Kriegaxt then follows Mayta and Scumpoison up the beach.

[Kadzar]

"So long as the water adjacent to the land is deep and still and large enough to accommodate several ships, it should do fine. Of course, we'll want to be relatively close to your village. We could have easily set up a dock in unclaimed territory, but having access to your town's existing infrastructure should prove to be quite useful, especially as we're starting out. This will prove to be quite beneficial to your town, as we'll be needing to employ plenty of local builders and other craftsmen, and, of course, we'll always need plenty of porters.

"Now, suppose we  just import some workers from Europe; I wonder how the residents of your town would like that, knowing they got screwed out of all those jobs. I'm inclined to think the trading companies may want to bring along their own men to handle these duties. after all, they know their own men are skilled and trustworthy, but what do they know about the people of your village? They know what I tell them. I can put in a good word, but I need your help to solve a problem: you see, in European culture, thirteen is considered an unlucky number. Now, sailors are a superstitious lot; if they find out they have to pay thirteen percent of what they trade as tribute, they may not feel so good about trading. However, I have a feeling that they'd feel much better about the number ten."

Juan then pulled out his own knife and started trimming a hangnail.

"As for your caravan situation, I know my fellow expedition members wouldn't pass up an opportunity to visit the capital, so I can guarantee they'll come. And our handlers will be very interested in what we can learn at the capital, so I should be able to acquire any additional manpower I need. All I ask is that you pay us what you would have paid your original guard before you offered to double the price, plus a little something extra considering that we'd have to leave at your convenience."

[quip]

"So I spend all night annoying a half-dragon in the hopes he won't go crazy and decide to kill us while we sleep and Kiregaxt gets to spend his time flirting with naked priestessess? Just my luck." Richard grumbles under his breath.

[Ochita]

"Ha! Well... Wait, what. A half dragon... That could be interesting, and talking about dragons, I would like to hear any information any of may have got, I want this meeting going smooth, there's almost no room for error here.." *Turning to Scumpoison, and the other priest.* "It would be nice to have a meeting under less... Strained circumstances, I'm afraid we really didn't have time to get acquainted."