[Game Thread] Shadows Lengthening

[Amos]

Nodding in response, Caz bids Gregor a fair evening before closing the tent flap up, placing his weapon by the side of his bedroll, and turning in for the night.

[Ehlana]

The night passes peacefully enough for Gregor, on watch, though those sharing the duty with him jump at the slightest noise. The only incident of note is when Theodore, startled by an owl's hooting, nearly puts a crossbow bolt up Gregor's nose. Thankfully, the cheerful bard manages to jerk his head sideways in time for the projectile to whistle instead past his ear and embed itself in a tree. Theodore is profuse in his apologies, though that may or may not be of any comfort to Gregor.

As for Cazmir, thanks to his imperturbable nature he has little trouble falling asleep, but even a will of iron cannot control his dreams. They are not exactly nightmares, but they aren't pleasant either, full of shadows and vague foreboding and dangers he can never quite come to grips with and overcome.

Eventually, Gregor's watch is over and he heads back to the tent. As he lifts the flap to head back inside, there is something strange. An amorphous form stand near the rear canvas wall, shrouded in a cloak. The bulk of Cazmir's sleeping form is clearly visible in his cot, so the standing figure cannot be him. Indeed, even as Gregor's eyes fall on the figure, the Cazmir sits up in bed, roused from sleep by the sound of footsteps. The inquisitor finds himself in the same peculiar position, finding a figure that clearly does not belong in his tent at night.

[Amos]

When his eyes opened and he saw the look upon Gregor's face, it was obvious something was wrong. Following his gaze, the hairs on the back of the Elf's neck began to raise, something was off. As he turned he first caught the image of something 'dark' out of the corner of his eye, his hand immediately made for his blade as he turned fully, wanting to see who had managed to creep past him in his sleep.

[TheChuck]

Gregor's singsong voice pours from his lips in a brief melody, causing a light to appear in his hand and illuminating the interior of the tent. "Who goes there?" he calmly but firmly queries, hoping but not expecting a reasonable response.

OOC Perform the cantrip Light.

[Ehlana]

"-I- do." The feminine voice is loud and firm, almost aggressive and the owner steps into the bright light shed by Gregor's spell with out hesitation. She is instantly recognizable, not her face, for neither man has seen that before, but her long mass of messy fair hair and her wispy gray cloak are very familiar to both of them. The unfamiliar face is that of a young woman, not yet in her twentieth year, with unusually pale skin, determined, light green eyes and a stubborn chin. Underneath her wispy cloak, her clothing is strictly utilitarian, brown linen with brown boots. The only ornamentation she wears is a flat silver disk with three parallel vertical lines in it, suspended around her neck by a leather thong.

"You two are not like any of the others here. You are not stupid. So I'm hoping you can help me."

[TheChuck]

Gregor looks the woman up and down, clearly recognizing her as the woman that Machedius has fought with on the outskirts of the site. Immediately suspicious the man remains tense but does not immediately react with violence. "Sneaking into our tent in the middle of the night isn't the best way to make a good impression, or give us any reason to trust you. If you sit down with your hands on your lap we might be willing to listen to what you have to say."

[Amos]

Cazmir doesn't take his hands off of his blades nor off of the woman, waiting, watching to see if she would do as requested. He had words he wished to say to her, most of which were not the type to start off a 'hopefully' friendly dialog though, so instead he remained quiet and vigilant.

[Ehlana]

"There's no where to sit that's not on somebody's bed, or on somebody, considering that Cazmir's -in- his." The girl retorts. "I could put them on top of my head, if you like." She does so, causing her cloak to bell out around her. She is not visibly armed. "And I snuck in for -your- sake. Unless you want Machedius firing both of you for talking to me?!" She lifts her slightly pointed chin determinedly. "Maybe you're not as smart as I thought and I -ought- to go." Her feet move restlessly. She doesn't seem happy to be here, but still, she remains.

[Amos]

Finding that holding his tongue any further is quickly becoming an impossibility, Caz takes a deep breath, lets it out, then tries to calm himself before speaking.

"You speak sense about sneaking in here, its no secret to anyone in camp that the old man is no fan of yours, but you cross the line insulting us when we ask a simple question. Now, if its not a horrible bother, why don't we skip all the pleasant small talk and get on to why it was necessary for you to come see us?"

[TheChuck]

Gregor holds up his hands in a gesture of apology. "If you felt the need to sneak in here despite the possible threat to your health then you clearly feel that whatever you have to say is rather important." The young man smiles slightly at this mysterious woman in a hopefully calming gesture. "It -would- be stupid of us to run you off without at least listening to what brings you here to the center of your apparent enemy's camp." Gregor then shrugs beneath his armor, "We'll have to judge for ourselves the importance of what you say."

[Ehlana]

The strange girl glares at Cazmir, opening her mouth to utter something that's probably not very polite, but Gregor speaks before she can, and she calms down, loosing her look of irritation. In it's place, worry crinkles her brow. She doesn't actually seem to quite know how to begin. She bites her lip, fidgets from foot to foot and finally, after a few seconds silence, bursts out.

"You all have to go! Now! Stop the work and go!"

[Amos]

A bemused smile begins to cross Cazmir's face. He turned his head slowly to look at Gregor, then, burst out with laughter.

"I'm ... sooorry, Really ... I am sorry! I just thought that you had something important to tell us. Everyone has been saying the exact same thing, multiple times a day even. But, what has been missing is a true reason as to why. I can tell you that I am here, at this very work site because of rumors, but, none of these rumors have been backed by anything of substance, anything concrete, no facts at all. So please, -if- you have any true or concrete reasons as to why we should leave, by all means, enlighten me ... us, but if you don't, I'm afraid that you're just wasting your time."

[TheChuck]

Gregor shrugs and smiles a small smile at the girl. "I'm afraid I must agree with my friend here; without something more to go on than, 'You must all leave now!' we cannot simply stop the work. If you have more information about what you are so afraid of then tell us and we can determine if the threat is valid and work to convince Machedius of the danger." The handsome man raises his hands in a gesture of apologetic surrender. "Otherwise the work will continue."

[Ehlana]

The young woman glares at Cazmir, baring her teeth at him in an incipient snarl. Frustration and offended pride boil in her young eyes and angry color warms her cheeks. "At least I'm not the one wasting breathable air." She retorts unkindly. "Why do you think your church sent you here? To sight see and make dumb remarks?" She drops her hands from her head, crossing them over her chest. Gregor's words can do only so much to smooth over the continual offenses of his companion and it is with no friendly eye she turns to him again. "The pendant you're looking for isn't here. It never was...it never existed. It's just a...story, planted to lure people here. I've told Machedius...he doesn't believe me and he's -stupid- and we start yelling at each other." Now, she positively grits her teeth in frustration.

[TheChuck]

Gregor raises his hands in a placating gesture, patting the air before him. "Calm down miss...?" The Gregarious One Diplomacy

Dice Roll:

d20+12

(13)+12

Total = 25

turns on the charm and tries to get this girl before them to relax and speak coherently. "We cannot understand anything that you speak about when all you are doing is veritably shouting in our faces. Please just take a deep breath and start from the beginning. We want to be able to help you, and if there is a real threat here we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of the workers and anyone involved, but you must explain yourself more clearly first." Gregor pauses for a moment before reaching down into his bags at his feet and pulling out two skins. "May I offer you some wine, or perhaps some water?"