Kelewen

Slave ship wrecked

It was only a matter of another few minutes before the tracks led the hunters within site of the native village. Ulric paused, still aware of the figures shadowing them. No sense trying to skirt around the perimeter since their presence was already known. Plus it was likely enough that their quarry was still inside the village. He kept his hands well clear of his weapons as he continued forward.

---

Brinley sprinted along the riverside trail with the others, not even daring to pause long enough to look back. She had been frightened before... of being caught by the slaver, of being lashed, and of being put back in the hull of the Crimson Eel and doomed to a life of servitude. Now she scared for her life. But she was only beginning to realize the dangers the jungle held.

Beside the trail, something large moved just behind the fleeing group, surprisingly quick and stealthy for its bulk. The previous night it had built its large and sticky web across the trail, hoping for some tasty morsels to find their way into it...

Fortune or Fate?

Yeah, just trying to think of what to do next.

@bloonewb

The now 12 feet tall goblin squinted his eyes and shot out a blazing ray at a nearby tree while hoping that a simple scorching ray would scare the stupider of his kin to just leg it since only one of them was actually taking a stand.

@Marcus XVI

River's tree perhaps?

Tower of the Black Pearl

It wasn't long before Arnold returned, carrying the smaller of the two drunkards and it was with some effort that they all managed to lower his unconscious form down into the chamber with the dragon portals.

"Wait!" Tamra said as they set down their prisoner. "Before we do this, let me grant some small measure of protection since we don't know what we'll encounter once we step through there." She had taken Ronan's caution to heart and knew there could very well be companions to this man on the other side.

Pulling a piece of cured leather from her pouch, she touched each of the three men on the shoulder and whispered a short incantation to grant each of them Mage Armor.

"Ok," she said and stepped back, letting one of them do the 'honors' of bloodletting their unsuspecting prisoner.

@DreadPirate@AwesomeZero5@Noodles

Fortune or Fate?

During this exchange, the goblins' attention seemed to be on each other and Rook took a step backwards and toward Kaiden. She was still unwilling to abandon her friend, but perhaps she could find a way to discretely cut the leather cord binding her wrists if she could only reach the knife on Kaiden's belt.

The goblins shifted uneasily and even laughed slightly nervously at the 'joke'. While not wholly convinced that the tall and odd goblin before them was really the Liberator, Stybs Orcgutter's monologue had raised enough of a question that it might just be better not to risk it. No harm in just letting these two go and undertaking the day's hike to Ashdown and gaining their sacrifices there. Right?

But sharp-eared and hard-headed Garuk alone was not swayed. "Pha!" he spat. He looked to the goblin next to him. "You hear this one, Nok? Liberator!" Garuk rolled his eyes, then sneered. "Didn't know they could stack shit that high."

Slave ship wrecked

Can I still join?

@Alisdragon911

Sure

Slave ship wrecked

The Duke's faint smile irritated the slaver more than it really had reason to. But Ulric continued along the still-obvious trail with the others, keeping his thoughts to himself as they drew closer to the village. A bit of slick and stealthy movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He kept his eyes straight ahead and his tone level so as not to alert the one shadowing them, he said quietly to the others. "The natives know we're here. There's at least one following us ... off to the right."

Fortune or Fate?

@Polybius@bloonewb@Gareth@Kiss Of Night@MayLily915

You guys still playing? (No biggie if you just need a little more time!)

Slave ship wrecked

@Marcus XVI@xChrome@Kelewen@Hundsgugel@Gentlemanvaultboy

I think it's about time one or two of them gets caught again, what does everyone else think? And Willow's not exactly human, she's half fairy :p

@Nikki Moonlight

I'm certainly not opposed. But it seems like there needs to be a little attention given first to the interaction between the natives and the slave hunters.

Maybe we can get the slaves in some other troubles in the meantime? :)

Slave ship wrecked

Ulric's eyes narrowed slightly in irritation when Alexander and his henchmen showed up. He'd purposefully left without them and hoped that the Duke would have taken the hint. The slave hunter should have known better.

"Most likely," he said, agreeing to the theory about natives. He'd encountered various tribes over his life and it was hard to say how they'd react to outsiders. Some were openly hostile while others had been inviting. "Maybe send a few of your fastest men ahead to scout it out so we know what we're walkin' into?"

---

Now that the pace had slowed enough to allow the group time to look closer at their surroundings, Brinley couldn't help but marvel at the strange and wonderful plants here. She'd spent most of her young life herding sheep in the hills close to Port Harwick where most of the trees had long since been timbered out to make room for grazing land.

Here, everything was so bright! The plant leaves were so many vibrant shades of green that she didn't even know existed before today. And some of them even had large flowers of bright reds and oranges. "It's so beautiful," she said out loud even though she was mostly talking to herself.

When her gaze shifted ahead, she noticed the trail where Water Snake was leading them seemed to split; one path continuing on along this side of the river and other toward a rather perilous looking bridge. "Do you think we're going to cross that?" she said back to Gregor, Szandor, and Oliver.

Slave ship wrecked

"That's a shame," Ulric said to Dinah. "Maybe he'll be more of a challenge the second time around," he commented hopefully.

Ulric stepped toward John, looking at where the younger man was pointing and saw for himself that the tracks turned suddenly eastward. The slaver crouched down to examine them. "There's an extra set of tracks mixed in with 'em now" he said, his expert eyes noting where Water Snake's prints joined up with the others. "Maybe leading 'em judging by the way some of the new prints are tracked over by our quarry."

---

"Is the journey far?" Brinley asked Water Snake. "To the boats, I mean?"