"Yes, I suspect you are right, Q. I wonder whether everyone travelled the same road we did south from Dyvers to here, or followed my footsteps from Greyhawk before that?" Zertin says thoughtfully. "Did they just happen to come this way now or was there something that prompted that journey?"

Caesius raises his glass, in response to a  similar gesture from one of the group at a nearby table.  Then he returns to the scroll...

Evil takes many forms, and the righteous man must learn to recognise them all.  Sometimes the foulest of creatures may wear the fairest of guises.  But to one with the eyes to see, the darkness seeps out to corrupt all around it.

And then, his favourite passage...

Do not fear to smite the foulness, in His name.  A Just man need fear no evil.  His sword is as the purest lightning striking from the Heavens, and his shield is as the walls of a mighty fortress.  His enemies shall fall before him, like unto grain before the scythe, even though they be numerous beyond count.

Even so, he keeps half an ear cocked towards the conversation at the nearby table.  A tale of the sacking of a church, and a hunt for the perpetrators.

Interesting...

Saeko pauses in her steady circuit around the tavern, looking at Zertin and taking a few steps closer.  "Your pardon for interrupting, but I fear you are very lost," she says.  Her Common is undoubtedly cultured, but oddly accented.  "I know this territory well, and there is no Greyhawk, nor... Dyvers.  We cannot be more than an hour from the Path of Ten Thousand Paces, from Kaze no Kyuden to Natsu no Toshi.  When the sun has won against this mist, it would be my pleasure to guide you to the city, if you would like.  Perhaps from there you can gain your bearings."

"My apologies for this intrusion, but we are somewhere to the east of Moliond Hold, no more than twenty leagues from the Hold itself, or perhaps a little more." Caesius interrupts, "Though I must own that I do not recognise the landscape, and have not seen a number of landmarks that I should have recognised immediately."

"I can only assume that I have taken an unfamiliar road in the mist."

He smiles at the man who had spoken of his location, "And I am afraid that I must agree with the lady.  You are lost.  Dyvers is many days travel south of here."

The door opens with a bang and a blur of fur and fangs enters, carrying a smallish humanoid on its back.

"Ouja, Oooh'Awww, anyalia oama chaoula oizuui!"

The female figure on the back of the jaguar-like creature speaks to it, one hand loosely holding onto the fur.  The big cat kicks the door closed with a back paw and trots towards the counter.  Every few steps it glares at those gathered inside, the figure on its back following suit.

"Aeh!  Chaoula oizuui sasa!"

With a lazy jump, the cat leaps up on the counter and the female dismounts seamlessly even as the feline jumps down almost instantaneously.  She seats herself on the edge of counter, feet hanging over the front.  With a frown she appears deep in thought for a few moments before gesturing to the dwarf behind it.

"Bring food eat." 

A coin is slapped down on the counter with a clonk on the counter and she then shoves it towards him.  The accent is thick and broken, much unlike the earlier sing-song language she spoke to the cat with.

The cat saunters over to the fireplace and plants itself as close at it can get, staring straight into the dancing flames.

Saeko spins when the door slams open, hands dropping to the hilts of her swords, but relaxes as it is quickly clear that the feline is both well trained and well mannered.  Nevertheless, she turns slowly to watch the pair cross the room.

"If I may revise my opinion," she says, turning back and taking a step back to include both Zertin and Caesius, "I fear we are all lost."

Caesius watches the diminutive figure, and the not-so-diminutive animal as they enter, and pulls his feet back as the animal goes past him on its way to the fire.

"Interesting.  Had I known that was permitted, I would have brought Hammer in with me.  Though I would have moved some of the furniture first." he says, with a lop-sided smile.

The Dwarf speaks no word to any of the new arrivals, but nods familiarly to Violet as she enters, and again to Arafarafarfa and her big cat, though somewhat more perfunctorily as if he's not altogether happy to see the pair again.

Indeed, it seems the two are, if not regulars, then at least known to the innkeeper  ... and to the other patrons as well, for they too nod their greetings with more or less enthusiasm (and, as the big cat crosses the common room, only push their chairs back from the table just enough to give them the option of trying to flee without looking as if that is their intent or fervent wish), though the rest of you garner just suspicious glances, save for Qvar whose glowing corona invokes no little muttering between them.

But though the Dwarf is silent ... by necessity, you judge, for t'would be a strange affectation for any innkeeper to be so rude by choice), he is at least attentive, producing a pitcher of wine of a deep, almost purple hue for Zertin, and a glass of the same (be it Furyondan or not, as appears more likely in light of your current discussion) for Caesius, as well as a shrug in response to his questions).

Ale too, more swiftly procured for one of the other patrons, a farmer perhaps, or manual labourer of some kind by his dress and the dirt on his hands and face, in response to a raised tankard and raised voice, "Another, Rugar, when you're ready !"

And ale again, set besides Arafarafarfa as she takes her seat, before serving the other man, and pounding on the door in the corner of the room as he makes his way back.

Perhaps half a minute ... and the door opens and a man limps out, either servant or cook or both.  Short of stature, but not a Dwarf by any stretch, he raises a questioning chin at Rugar, nodding in turn as the innkeeper points first to the tattooed creature sitting on the counter (and then quickly looking about until he locates her big cat, lips tightening as he spots it by the fire) then back to the Dwarf, following the finger which indicates Zertin then Caesius, nodding again.

Slowly, the cook, shall we say, navigates the tangle of stools and tables and past Saeko till he draws close enough to speak.

"Soup or stew ?" he asks Caesius and Zertin in turn, politely enough, if with little cheer, and while thus proven to be not so silent as Rugar, still seemingly a man of few words.

OOC: Map of the proceedings updated ...
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:48, Sun 11 Mar 2018.

"Stew, I believe." Caesius responds, after barely a heartbeat's hesitation.

Zertin is still slightly stunned by the recent conversations and sudden arrival of the extraordinary feline and its bizarre little rider, which seems to be taken as a normal sort of occurrence here.

"Er, stew, thanks," he responds after a moment to collect his thoughts. "And something for my brother, too. Q, soup or stew for you?"

The cook nods wearily, though he stirs enough to ask, "Anyone else ?" while he waits for Qvar to reply.

Jaws part and the head all but turns inside out as the feline yawns, displaying an impressive set of cuspids.  The big cat then stretches, front legs stretched out in front of it with claws digging into the floor, displaying their sharpness before sitting back up straight.

With the tongue lapping its nose and chops, the feline proceeds to look around at the people around it, yellow eyes piercing through them if they dare to look into its eyes.  For a moment a rumbling can be heard, deep like distant thunder.

From the counter, the small female calls out, gesturing to the cat.  "Meat Oooh'Awww!"  It is highly doubtful she means to introduce it.

Zertin looks at the big cat a little nervously. He certainly doesn't look like he wants to be any closer to that creature than absolutely necessary. Something moves slightly at his right side, under his cloak, and he gently brushes his hand across his cloak at that spot until the movement ceases.

"I definitely travelled southwards from the city of Dyvers. It is physically impossible that I could have walked as far north as you say, master warrior, and I crossed no lake or river on that journey. If that does not accord with where we are now, then there is magic at play here. Magic, or some other power interfering in the natural order of things. Do any of you know of this place or how we come to be here?"

"My name is Caesius Moliondes.  My father was Horianon, son of Agresaide, and grandson of Gamlach." Caesius introduces himself.

"I was travelling to Moliond Hold, which lays some distance northwest of Critwall in the Shield Lands, that city standing some eighty leagues north of Dyvers.  I know that I left Critwall yesterday and followed the Ritensa north for half a day, before turning west."

He shrugs his shoulders, "I had thought to cross the Veng a little south of Molag, and thence to what remains of my home, but have not seen the river or the accursed city."

"Well met, Caesius. I only know a little about the history of the Shield Lands but at least that gives me a good understanding of where you come from, if not how we could have been walking in opposite directions and somehow arrived here together.

"I am Zertin Weisse  and this is my brother Qvar. Our family home is in the city of Dyvers although we have lived many leagues apart more often than not in recent years. (Their surname Weisse is pronounced as Wheeze.)

"Who else have we here? This young lady is Violet and the big cat by the fire is called Oooh'Awww, according to its rider, sitting over there on the counter."

He looks at the other young lady who has joined  the conversation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, if you gave it. I have never heard of your Path of Ten Thousand Paces or those two place names you mentioned. Are they even within the Flanaess, which is the land where Dyvers and the Shield Lands are located?" he asked Saeko.

"HA!  Home we no.  Land giant strangeness, tales wild, lurk monsters say."

The lady of the tattoos perched on the counter shouts, louder than needed, followed by a loud mutter.  "Mjinya maouewa si nyume'ani anajua.  Frrr."

She bangs herself on the chest with a clenched fist.

"Arafarafarfa!" she shouts, still, all the r's being oddly soft as if barely enunciated.

"Oooh'Awww!" comes the next shout, fist in a straight arm aimed at the big cat.  It sounds slightly different the way she pronounce it.  The ears of the cat flick and it glares over at the "wheezy" fellow.

Saeko lifts her head a bit, about to answer Zertin, stopping and turning again to look at Arafarafarfa.  "Arafarafarfa," she repeats it carefully, almost precisely.  With a nod, she turns back again.

She smiles faintly, glances at Caesius, and then responds, "My name is Saeko, third daughter of the Yamashima Family, Fifth House of the Kingdom of Sekai, Second Kingdom under the Imperial Crown.  Flanaess," this, too, she mimics carefully, "Is not among the Kingdoms.  I am a humble apprentice of Kaze no Kyuden."  She tips her head faintly, but offers no other trace of this purported humility.  Drawing one of her katana a measured few inches from its sheath, she indicates the design engraved at the base of the hilt.  "Daughter of the Wind."  She slides the blade quietly back into its home.

"Four of us walk the Path of Ten Thousand Paces for tales wild, lurk monsters say."  Though she repeats the broken words, her delivery remains formal, with only a small smile tugging the corners of her lips.  Letting the smile grow - slightly, but into an actual smile - she clarifies, "Something has been hunting travelers.  We are hunting it."

Watching the newcomers, Qvar shrugs distractedly when Zertin offers to buy food.  "Neither, thank-you Zed.  I don't eat." He smiles up at the cook to ensure no slight may be interpreted.

He smiles warmly as the exotically glittering warrior woman with the deadly-looking swords approaches, feeling quite safe to be in the company of such well-armed travellers.  "Perhaps we needed to be lost to find each other."  he speculates, fascinated by their conversation.

He edges his sandaled foot a little closer to the fireplace, towards the big cat, watching the animal with joy.  "There is nothing like a cat on a hearth to make a place feel homely."  When the cat's rider speaks her name, Qvar silently mouths the unfamiliar syllables, enjoying the spectacle of this small person owning the room.  Grinning delightedly at Zertin, "Brother, clearly this life is going to be much more interesting than the last."  On a fervent breath "By Pelor's radiant grace."

"Thank you Saeko and you too, Arra-farra-far-far. I am pleased to meet you and look forward to the stories you can tell of the lands you come from."

He looks surprised when his brother declines the offer of a free meal.

"Are you sure, Q? I know you take your vow of poverty seriously, but since when did that extend to even eating a meal?" he asked Qvar.

Qvar and Zertin respond - favourably, which is a relief - and then the conversation shoots off on a tangent.  While Violet doesn't know where everyone is, exactly, she knows they're not where they think they are, and neither is she.  Another thing about the area - if one can name it such - in which they find themselves.

And yet another traveller enters, this time accompanied by an enormous feline.  Or is it the other way around?  Shrinking back a touch, Violet cannot help but note how swiftly the brightly armored woman reacts, and how none of the others in the room - other than Zertin - show anything approaching fear.  She finds the event rather unnerving, herself, and edges away from the spotted beast as it flops down close to the flames, keeping one hand beneath her cloak, fingers curled around a dagger hilt.

For all the good that will do.

Offering a small nod of the head when Zertin graciously introduces her, the young woman commits the names - and possible names - to memory.  Though, to be truthful, after a second of listening to Saeko, Violet gives up.  Leaning toward the cook as he passes, she quietly queries, "What's in the soup and stew?"

The others continue to speak, the conversation washing over her like the waves of an ocean.  She lets it - no sense in interrupting with this meeting proceeding so smoothly.  Pelor, the girl muses.  A god, it would seem.  Suspicions correct; thankfully so.

Eyes narrow at the man mangling her name and a hand goes towards the large, for her, sword at her side.

"Say challenge Sir Thineese?  Want death fight?!" comes a throaty growl, only to mellow slightly at she glances around.  With a shake of her head and a forlorn sigh she places her hand on the counter again, giving an annoyed look instead of the threatening one.

"Ahrh. Afa. Hrhaf. Ahrh. Fa."

It still have exotic sounds in there, not quite found in Common.

"Perhaps we did," Saeko allows, thoughtfully, in response to Qvar's observation.  "It is a pleasure to meet each of you, also."

She steps smoothly to the side when Arafarafarfa gives her challenge, but does look pleased when she sets it aside.  Turning around yet again, she walks over to the bar.  "Where is this place?" she asks the barkeep.  "What kingdom or domain does it lie within?"

Still waiting for the answer from the server - the bartender won't give her much about the food, Violet knows - the young woman coughs once, then raises her voice slightly.  "You're not where you were before."  A shrug follows that proclamation.  "Wherever that was," Violet continues more quietly.

"This place is different.  And finding the path back to where you came from..."  Closing her eyes, she considers Chaville, brilliant city of lights, and home to some of the filthiest poor on Gaia.  "That's not easy."

"Meat," the cook informs Violet as she enquires after the makings of the soup or stew, nodding if she wants a bowl and nodding if she doesn't as if it's all the same to him ... much it seems as is the fare on offer here.

Orders taken, he limps back to his kitchen, glaring at Arafarafarfa as he goes.  "S'coming," he tells her crossly.

"We are all lost," one of the other three patrons speaks up, leaving off staring morosely into his cup to meet Violet's gaze.  His eyes too flick often to the big cat by the hearth as he talks, more fearful of the beast than either the young woman or Zertin but most certainly less nervous addressing her than any of the rest of you, if only that her drab garb is more on par with his own humble attire.

"You'll not get any answer out of him," the garrulous man glances towards Saeko, though turns back to Violet as he continues his tale.  "and little enough from our cook.  Rugar there does not speak but he does write, and I cannot read, but our cook is a talented man and can manage both, though he's miserly with either.  A good cook though, I'll grant, or least the best I've known."

"Wherever he came from, that Dwarf had his throat cut for him ... yet here that wound is gone without trace, but the memory of it lingers and so he cannot speak.  Our cook's leg festered ... and again, here it is whole, yet he limps simply because he always has.  Habits of a lifetime."

"These are the borderlands ... some might say between one domain and the next, though I say it is the crossing point betwixt life and death."  He snorts at that thought, perhaps finding his own words amusing.   "It is an odd place, I'll grant.  Here I don't get hungry ... nor can I get drunk, though I'm not yet ready to give up trying !" He waves his empty cup at the innkeeper, pointedly.

He shakes his head.  "M'name's Randal.  From Surd if you've ever heard of it.  Never met one yet who has, though."

"Ahrh-afa-hrhaf-ahrh-fa. Ar-afa-raf-ar-fa. Arafarafarfa," Zertin practices the young woman's name. "No death fight, thank you. You can just call me Zertin. Is there a shorter form of your name we can call you? One that would not offend you?"

When Violet and Randal speak up Zertin listens and considers their words thoughtfully before responding.

"Thank you, Violet and Randal. How long have you been here? Arafarafarfa mentioned monsters. Can you give us any idea what we might be facing here, or where we should go to find out more about how and why we are here?"